Getty Museum
Attic Black-Figure Mastos
Creator
PsiaxPainter
All works by this person →A vase-painter working in Athens in the late 500s B.C., Psiax is known from his signature on several surviving vases. A versatile painter, Psiax worked in every pottery technique in use at that time: black-figure, red-figure, white-ground, coral red, and Six's technique. He decorated the complete range of Greek vase shapes, both large and small, favoring Dionysiac scenes and the myths of Herakles.
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 520–500 B.C.
- Medium
- Terracotta
- Culture
- Greek (Attic)
- Department
- Vessels
- Institution
- Getty Museum
A young woman plays the double flutes on this black-figure mastos or breast-shaped cup. The other side of the vase depicts a woman flourishing a branch and an ivy sprig. These attributes, as well as the nebris or animal skin that she wears over one shoulder, identify her as a maenad, a female follower of Dionysos, the god of wine. A mastos was a drinking cup designed for use at a symposium. A relatively rare form produced by Athenian potters only in the later 500s B.C., it provided a challenge to the drinker. The nipple at the base would not have provided a stable support, and any wine within would have to be consumed before the vessel was put down.
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