Eye-cup

Eye-cup is the term describing a specific cup type in ancient Greek pottery, distinguished by pairs of eyes painted on the external surface.

Classified as kylikes in terms of shape, eye-cups were especially widespread in Athens and Chalkis in the second half of the sixth century BC.

The bowl of the eye-cup rests on a short squat foot; both sides are dominated by large painted pairs of eyes under arched eyebrows.

The earliest bilingually painted vases, those with both styles, include specimens of eye-cups with a black-figure interior and a red-figure exterior.

Other well-known examples of eye-cups are by the following painters or groups: A special type is the Chalkidian style of cup, of which further variants exist.