Attic black-figure 'eye cup' showing men courting
Medium:Wheel-thrown earthenware, slip-painted with incised detail
Geography: Made in Athens, Greece; findspot unknown
Date: about 520 BC
Period: Greek Archaic period
Dimensions:8.5 x 28.5 x 21.4 cm
Object number: 920.68.13
Credit Line: Gift of Sigmund Samuel
Gallery Location:Gallery of Greece
DescriptionThis Athenian wine cup (kylix) is called an 'eye cup' because of the large eyes painted on the outside. On both sides of cup is the same decoration. The large eyes are surrounded by ivy stems and between them is a black-figure scene showing one naked clean-shaven man propositioning another. He uses the traditional hand gesture
commonly found on Greek scenes of homosexual courtship, with one hand gesturing
to the chin and another to the genitals. In the centre of the inside of the cup is a round bearded head of a gorgon (gorgoneion).
