Cleveland Museum of Art

Black-Gloss Mug

Date

late 400s–300s BCE

Medium

ceramic

Culture

South Italian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Nearly cylindrical with a vertical ring handle, this vessel looks like a modern cup for tea or coffee—drinks not known in the classical world. Although the shape is unusual for an ancient drinking vessel, other examples exist, and the manufacture is typical. Turned on a wheel, the cup has a flat base and seven applied fillets adorning the exterior. Its black-gloss coating derives from the same firing technology used for black-figure and red-figure decoration. The black-gloss finish of this mug derives from fired clay slip, not black pigment.

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