Chalcidian Eye Cup

Many aspects of the symposium encouraged playful behavior, be it through song, jokes or trickery – all in the spirit of celebrating Dionysos, the god of wine. When a drinker held up this cup – with eyes, ears and a nose on each side - it would have functioned like a mask. 

The cup has a distinctive shape, with a deep bowl, a large foot with a tall, concave profile, and a thick ring joining the foot with the bowl. The strikingly angular form of the foot has led some to believe that the shape may derive from metal prototypes. 

Chalcidian pottery was made by a workshop of immigrant Greek vase‑painters who had settled in southern Italy, perhaps at Reggio. Scholars call the style Chalcidian because some vases bear inscriptions written in the alphabet of the city of Chalkis in Greece.