Late Geometric Cup

The surface of this skyphos (a two-handled cup for drinking wine) is covered with geometric and linear designs. Panels filled with zigzags and hatched lines cover the entire exterior of the vessel. Around the interior, deer accompanied by birds graze against a background of similar patterns. The animals, painted in silhouette, are arranged in a single band circling the interior of the vessel.

While the geometric designs are typical of Greek vases in the Geometric period (about 900-700 B.C.), the interior figural decoration on this vessel foreshadows the flood of Near Eastern influence that would characterize Greek art in the 600s B.C. Both the animal motif and its application as a decorative band are rooted in the art of the eastern Mediterranean coast. The shallow profile of the cup and its interior animal frieze resemble Phoenician repoussé bronze bowls, which were being imported into Greece at this time. The specific motif of the grazing deer was also extremely popular in Levantine ivory sculpture in the 700s B.C.