Collection Item

From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Name/TitleMug

About this objectAttic Geometric Mug. A small drinking mug with a large handle used commonly in daily life. The mug is painted in dark-brown paint with geometric patterns which are common in the period.

This cup represent a type of vessel that would have been used both for ladling out food from a cooking pot, or for drinking liquids and eating soups, stews, and porridges. Mugs such as this might have been more practical for consuming food than a modern plate or wide bowl, as the ancient Greeks did not usually eat using cutlery. The best tool for scooping up food would have been the flatbreads that accompanied each meal.

The Geometric style is defined by its intricate patterning. The period established rules of decoration which contrasted light and dark, and careful organisation of decoration to emphasise the shape of the pot – a Greek desire for harmony and structure which would continue for the next 400 years. The Geometric period offered few specific images beyond simple shapes. Patterns might include top hatched meanders, dot filled lozenges, chequerboards, hatched battlement meanders, close zig zag leaves, and solid bands.

The cross-hatched triangles on the neck of this mug emphasise the space on the neck and dot–filled tangential circles – sometimes called false spirals - are placed on the slight curvature of the mug. The decoration flows over the whole of the pot. Each part of the mug receives its own decoration.

To listen to the audio description for this object, go to JLMC 4.53 Geometric Mug

Date Madeca. 750-725 BC

PeriodLate Geometric Ib

Place MadeGreece

Medium and MaterialsCeramic; Pottery

Style and IconographyGeometric

Style and IconographyAttic

MeasurementsHeight 113mm; Height to lip 95mm; Diameter 93mm

Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Credit LineDonated by M.K. Steven

Object TypeDrinking Vessels

Object number4.53

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved