Exterior: view from below

Tondo: gorgoneion

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Summary: Tondo: GorgoneionSide A: Between small eyes, a frontal mask of DionysosSide B: The same as Side A
Ware: Attic Black Figure
Painter: Attributed to the Group of Walters 48.42
Attributed By: J.D. Beazley
Context: From Vulci
Date: ca. 510 BC - ca. 500 BC
Dimensions:

H. 0.12 m., D. 0.315 m.
Primary Citation: ABV, 206.5; Para, 94, 96; Beazley Addenda 1, 25; Beazley Addenda 2, 55
Shape: Kylix
Beazley Number: 302638
Region: Etruria
Period: Late Archaic

Condition:

Broken in many places and mended with slight restoration.

Decoration Description:

The inside is glazed except for the reserved line just below the glazed rim and the tondo, which is bounded by three concentric circles. On the outside, a narrative zone encircles the bowl, enclosed above by a single and below by a triple line. Around the lower bowl, separated from the narrative zone by a single line, are 53 base rays, alternately glazed and reserved. They are set between triple and double lines. A glaze band and a double line complete the pattern above the glazed fillet at the junction of the bowl and the foot. The foot has a reserved edge, and a reserved base. The stem is glazed within, misfired red, and the bottom of the bowl is reserved. The handles are glazed outside, reserved within.

Side A: A frontal head of Dionysos, wearing an ivy wreath. It is executed in outline technique, and is placed between feminine apotropaic eyes. The god wears what might be a false beard, attached above the ears by strings or wires (CVA, 44). Surrounding the god's head are small-leaved grapevines, laden with small clusters of grapes. Large-leaved, fruit-laden vines grow around the handles and the outer sides of the eyes. The leaves of the wreath in Dionysos' hair are red, as are the pupils of his eyes, and the first concentric circle of the apotropaic eyes. The Second concentric band is painted white.

Side B: The same as Side A

Int.: A Gorgoneion is depicted. It has a red tongue, pupils, and a wrinkle on its nose; alternating locks of hair are also painted red. The other locks of hair, teeth, and irises are painted white.

Collection History:

H. L. Pierce Fund.

Sources Used:

CVA, Boston 2, USA 19, 44, pl. 102

Other Bibliography:

ClassAnt 10 (1977) 6, pl. 10; G. Ferrari, "Eye Cup" RA 1 (1986) 17, fig. 15; A.D. Ure "Krokotos and White Heron" JHS 75 (1955), 97, no. 10, 99, pls. 12.1, 14.10