Siana Cup
Encyclopedia
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
cups decorated in the black-figure technique. They are named after one of their find locations, the necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
of the ancient city of Siana on Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
. During the second quarter of the 6th century BC, Siana cups were the predominant cup shape in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. The shape remained popular later and was still being produced in large quantities during the era of the Little-master cups.
Siana cups were the successors of Komast cups
Komast Cup
The Komast cup is a cup shape at the beginning of the development of Attic drinking cups.Drinking cups were introduced to Greece from Levantine predecessors. Komast cups were a development of such Levantine cups, which were widespread especially in Ionia and Corinth...
, produced by the Komast Group
Comast Group
The Comast Group was a group of Attic vase painters in the black-figure style. The works of ist members are dated to between 585 and 570/560 BC....
. In fact, the last representatives of that group were the first to manufacture Siana cups. Typical features include the clearly distinguished lip or rim, and the concave foot, which is taller than in Komast cups. The handles are slightly upturned. A new development is the use of painted tondos
Tondo (art)
A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about 60 cm in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait...
on the cup interior. These were often framed by bands of flames or other ornamentation; the central image was frequently of a running human figure in a semi-crouched position.
There are two separate decorative schemes for the exteriors. Some of the images are painted straight across the carination (or fold) between the bowl and the rim. This is known as the "overlap" scheme. In other cases, the parts above and below the carination are painted separately and described as "double-deckers". In that scheme, the upper frieze is often purely ornamental, especially with vegetal patterns of ivy or laurel. This type is especially common in East Greece. Animal friezes are comparably rarer. Figural decorations occur in the handle zone, as do handle palmette
Palmette
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...
s. Popular pictorial themes include symposia, komasts
Komos
The Komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting....
, cavalcade
Cavalcade
Cavalcade may refer to:*Cavalcade, a horseback procession, parade, or mass trail ride*A huge parade*A huge procession*Suzuki GV1400 Cavalcade, a Suzuki luxury touring motorcycle available from 1985 to 1988 in North America...
s, duels, as well as athletic and mythological scenes.
Several vase painters had specialised in painting Siana cups. The most important among them was the C Painter
C Painter
The C Painter was one of the most important Attic black-figure vase painters. His works date to circa 575-550 BC.His conventional name was allocated by the archaeologist John Beazley. The C stands for "Corinthianising", a reference to the strong influence of Corinthian vase painting on the artist...
. Others include the Painter of Athens 553, the Heidelberg Painter
Heidelberg Painter
The Heidelberg Painter was an Attic vase painter of the black-figure style, active between about 575 and 555 BC. He is considered one of the most important painter of Siana cups....
, the Painter of Boston CA, the Kassandra Painter
Kassandra Painter
The Kassandra Painter was an Attic vase painter in the black-figure style.A contemporary of the Heidelberg Painter, he decorated Siana cups with tall feet and rims. The vessels painted by him are of medium size. He is considered one of the first producers of Little-master cups...
, the Sandal Painter, the Civico Painter and the Griffin-Bird Painter. At present, about 1,000 cups and fragments are known; a classification vital for their chronology and stylistic categorisation has been developed by Herman Brijder. A special type are so called Merrythought Cup
Merrythought Cup
The term Merrythought Cup is used by scholars to describe a specific type of Attic kylix.The Merrythought cup probably developed as a refined form of a rural cup type normally made of wood. The shape features several peculiarities. It is the first Attic cup shape that lacks a distinctive break...
s, with a forked handle.