ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Conical Cup

AAT Object Form/Functionmastoid cups

AAT Object Techniqueinscribing

CultureGreek

PeriodHellenistic

Datelate 2nd Century BCE

MediumSilver

Credit LineGift of the 2014 Visiting Board

Dimensions4 x 5 3/4 in. (10.2 x 14.6 cm)

Object number2014.036.001

Label TextConical cup with slightly everted rim and flattened base. Raised from a single sheet of silver. The interior is decorated with three concentric grooves below the rim; the exterior is undecorated. Two punched inscriptions in Greek script were added on the exterior of the bowl, below the rim: “SOSULOU” (“Of Sosylos”) and “ND” (“54 [drachmas]”).

Typically referred to as mastoi (singular, mastos) due to their breast-like form, cups of this shape made from precious metal, ceramic and glass were popular in the Hellenistic period, especially in the eastern Mediterranean. Versions made from silver plate represented costly luxuries and would have been used at elite banquets as a form of status display before being buried in tombs or dedicated in temples.

Inscribed silver is rare, but a few examples of similar vessels with comparable inscriptions survive from Hellenized Near Eastern kingdoms. The first inscription, in the genitive case, gives the name of the presumed owner, Sosylos. The second numerical inscription gives the cup’s weight in units of currency, 54 drachmas. This indicates that the cup was weighed using the Parthian weight standard, implying a Near Eastern context.

Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, November 17, 2014 - October 31, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, November 23, 2021 - September 18. 2023

ProvenanceEx coll. Richard Wagner (1907-2002), West Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1968-1991, purchased from Essex Arts, New York, December 1968. Purchased by MCCM from Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, New York.

InscribedSOSILOY ("Of Sosilos") ND (= "54 drachmas")

Status

Not on view

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