RF Mug – Flutist and Companion

RF Mug – Flutist and CompanionRed figure mug (kypellon) with a Dionysiac scene, ca. 480440 BCE A flutist and his companion take centre stage on this beautifully crafted mug, their figures rendered in warm terracotta against a deep, lustrous black ground. The standing figure plays the aulos the double flute beloved of Dionysus and his revellers while his crouching companion steadies himself beside a vessel, both figures caught in a moment of lively, ritual energy. The subject

Red-figure mug (kypellon) with a Dionysiac scene, ca. 480–440 BCE

A flutist and his companion take centre stage on this beautifully crafted mug, their figures rendered in warm terracotta against a deep, lustrous black ground. The standing figure plays the aulos — the double flute beloved of Dionysus and his revellers — while his crouching companion steadies himself beside a vessel, both figures caught in a moment of lively, ritual energy. 

The subject evokes the world of the symposium and the Dionysiac thiasos — companions in music, wine, and revelry — themes that populated the finest Attic pottery of the Classical period.

For comparison, see examples of red-figure kypella in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens (ARV² supplemental series); also Beazley Archive Pottery Database, Oxford.

Dimensions H: 10 cm, Max L: 13.5 cm, Rim D: 10 cm