Collection Online as of March 27, 2023

Red-Figure Kylix (Drinking Cup): Dionysos and Satyr (I); Satyrs and Maenads (A, B)

c. 480 BC

Part of a set. See all set records

attributed to Douris

(Greek, Attic, active c. 500–470 BC)

or Painter of London E 55

Greece, Athens, 5th Century BC

Ceramic

Diameter: 29.6 cm (11 5/8 in.)

Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1915.718

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

In the tondo, a dancing satyr approaches the wine god Dionysos, who holds a kantharos and grapevine.

Description

Reconstructed from 72 fragments, this cup has been repaired several times, indicating its enduring value to owners. Pairs of holes straddling cracks once held ancient wire or clamp repairs. Numerous incomplete holes may signify recent interventions. Early modern efforts to hide cracks and certain features of the satyrs that could have offended sensibilities of the time also masked the original artistry of its painting. So, for many years the cup languished in storage. Cleaning and reconstruction in 1952–53 revealed enough to allow attribution to a respected vase painter, Douris, reviving the cup’s reputation. More recently, a different attribution has been suggested, and a new conservation campaign replaced ancient parts from a different cup with modern reconstructions more like those lost.

Citations

Beazley Archive. n.d. Beazley Archive Pottery Database. Oxford: Beazley Archive. BAPD 205157 www.beazley.ox.ac.uk

Lee, Sherman E. "A Cup by Douris." American Journal of Archaeology 58, no. 3 (1954): 230, pll. 41-42.

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 28 archive.org

Carter, Martha L. Classical Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961. Mentioned: p. 3; reproduced: p. 4; Plate 7 archive.org

Beazley, J. D. Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, 2nd Ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963. P. 436, no. 111 (Douris).

Boulter, C. G. Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, USA Fasc. 15 (Cleveland Museum of Art fasc. 1). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971. P. 24, pll. 37-38.

Moon, Warren G. and Louise Berge. Greek Vase-Painting in Midwestern Collections. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1979. Mentioned & reproduced: pp. 188-189, cat. 106 www.perseus.tufts.edu

Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 16, no. 18

Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Reproduced: p. 337, figs. 18-19 www.jstor.org

Elston, Maya. "Ancient Repairs of Greek Vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 18 (1990): 53-68. Ill. p. 59, Fig. 12. www.jstor.org

Buitron-Oliver, Diana. Douris: A Master-Painter of Athenian Red-Figure Vases. Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 1995. P. 87, cat. E,7 (Painter of London E 55)

Clark, Andrew J., Maya Elston, and Mary Louise Hart. Understanding Greek Vases: A Guide to Terms, Styles, and Techniques. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002. Referenced and illustrated, pp. 26-27, Fig. 14.

Pevnick, Seth. “Replication and Reinterpretation, Old and New.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 25. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 25.

Exhibition history

Greek Vase-Painting in Midwestern Collections. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (December 22, 1979-February 24, 1980).

The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).

Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).