Fragmentary Attic Skyphos in Six's Technique

An acrobatic drinker bends over to the left while drinking from a wine cup (painted white), lifting his leg up high and bending it to expose his backside and penis. He supports himself with just his left hand and right foot on the ground. His posture suggests a drunken dare, or a provocation at a symposium.

The figure is rendered in what is called Six’s Technique, named after the Dutch scholar Jan Six. This method of decoration flourished briefly in Athens in the late sixth century B.C., and involves painting a vase black, and then applying figures or ornament in red, orange, or white. Details can be incised, revealing the black beneath, as seen here for the youth’s eye and musculature.

A reserved band with an ivy pattern runs just below the rim of the vase. On the body, the ground line is rendered in red, and a second band runs below it. Further down, in a reserved zone, are three thin black bands, a frieze of alternating black and red tongues, and two more thin bands. Black gloss is spattered on both the lower and upper reserved ornamental borders, and the painter accidentally smeared one of the black tongues, preserving his fingerprint. The underside of the foot is reserved, save for a black ring.