View source for Band cup

{{Short description|Type of ancient Greek cup}}
[[Image:Band cup Louvre F75.jpg|thumb|Band cup, potted by [[Amasis Painter|Amasis]], painted by the [[Amasis Painter]]. [[Dionysos]], [[Ariadne]], [[satyr]]s and [[maenad]]s, '’circa’’ 550/540 BC, [[Louvre]].]]
[[Image:Band cup Louvre F72.jpg|thumb|Battle scene on a band cup by an unknown artist, '’circa’’ 540 BC, [[Louvre]].]]
'''Band cups''' are a form of ancient Greek [[Attica|Attic]] [[Little-Master Cups|Little-master cups]].
The lip of a band cup is black and slightly concave. At the joint between vase body and foot, there is often a red ring. The external figural decoration is in the area of the handles, often framed by [[palmette]]s. Internal images and inscriptions are quite rare. Some specimens are completely black with the exception of some figures near the handles. Another very rare group of specimens, attributed to the potter [[Andokides (potter)|Andokides]] and his workshop, have figural decoration on the flat base of the foot.
It remains unknown why band cups and [[lip cup]]s existed side by side for a considerable period. Perhaps,{{Original research inline|date=May 2024}} each variant had its own distinctive advantages. For example, it may have been more pleasant to drink from the undecorated black-slipped lip of a band cup, while the strong ridge underneath the rim of lip cups would have prevented spilling more effectively.  Lip cups were somewhat more difficult to produce.
Well-known artists of this type were [[Hermogenes (potter)|Hermogenes]], [[Glaukytes]], the [[Centaur Painter]], [[Neandros (potter)|Neandros]], [[Sokles (potter)|Sokles]] and the [[Oakeshott Painter]]. The differences amongst these cups can be found through their varying sizes and decorated imagery; these unique characteristics were influenced by the workshops they were created in rather than a set formula for the cup design. <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heesen|first=Pieter|date=2006|title=Drinking inscriptions on Attic little-master cups: Does size matter? A contribution to the AVI Project|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44079058|journal=Museum Helveticum|volume=63|issue=1|pages=44–62|jstor=44079058 |issn=0027-4054}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Athenian Band Cup by the Oakeshott Painter (MET 17.230.5)]]
== Bibliography ==
* [[John Boardman (art historian)|John Boardman]]: ''Schwarzfigurige Vasen aus Athen. Ein Handbuch'', Mainz 1977, {{ISBN|3-8053-0233-9}}, p.&nbsp;66
== Notes ==
<references />
== External links ==
*{{commons category-inline|Band cups}}
<!--- Categories --->
{{Greek drinking cups}}
[[Category:Attic pottery]]
[[Category:Drinkware]]
[[Category:6th century BC in Greece]]
[[Category:6th-century BC artifacts]]