Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami

Drinking Vessel (Siana Cup)

Artist/Maker C Painter (Greece, ca. 575-555 BCE)

Dateca. 570-565 BCE

Mediumpottery and paint

DimensionsOverall: 5 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 10 in. (13.3 x 32.1 x 25.4 cm)

ClassificationsContainers

Credit LineMuseum purchase through funds from Colonel C. Michael Paul

Terms

Object number92.0030

On View

On view

Collections

Art of the Ancient Mediterranean

DescriptionThe Athenian painter of this large drinking cup is referred to as the C Painter (C is for "Corinthianizing") because he clearly borrowed numerous artistic ideas from Corinth, the rival manufacturing center of fine ware pottery. Both themes that appear on this cup are borrowed: the hoplite, or armed infantryman, on the inside of the cup, and the betrothal scenes on the outer rim. This painter designed vases prior to the mid-6th century BCE, when Athenian painters were still not entirely independent of Corinthian inspiration. The frieze surrounding the upper exterior of the cup, for example, is composed in a band, a characteristic of Corinthian painting. Here banqueters can be seen at small tables with food and drink before them. The celebrants wear wreaths, a custom from ancient Greece, for any celebration, whether a religious feast or a secular symposium. The term "Siana" refers to the decorative schemes, one in which the subject covers the upper exterior around the handles and the other a large tondo (circular picture) that covers the bottom of the interior. The design of the cup permitted drinking either by tipping the vessel while holding the handles with both hands or by slipping the fingers of one hand under the bowl and around the pedestal. When the cup was filled, the figure of the hoplite inside would seem to move.