Attic Black-Figure Kyathos

Exterior: Herakles being feasted by satyrs and maenads. On the left, a satyr carrying a pointed neck-amphora on his back advances to the right. Before him, a maenad moving to right, looking back. She holds a thyrsos and gestures with her left hand. She wears an animal skin over her long chiton. Next to her, a satyr walks to right and looks around. He carries a wine skin and holds a drinking horn. This trio of figures advances towards Herakles, who reclines to left on a rock. His club is wedged between his left arm and shoulder, and his bow and quiver hang above him. Behind Herakles, an ithypallic satyr, looking back. In the field, ivy vines and leafy branches. Below the picture, a thin reserved line halfway down the black zone.

The kyathos has a high strap handle, with molded relief decoration (a nine-fronded closed palmette with a long stem above the rim of the bowl) and a twisted spur at the apex. The cup is deep, with a slightly everted rim, and black on the interior. The ogival foot is black on the topside, with the outer edge reserved and divided by a tooled line. Underneath the foot: resting surface reserved, concave sloping surface black, and in the center of the bottom of the cup, two small concentric circles and a dot.

Adapted from Clark, A. CVA Malibu 2 (1990).