ARCHAIC PERIOD, CIRCA LATE 6TH-EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.

This unusual cup is ornamented with incised details, including egg-and-dart on the splayed foot and a band of tongues above a lotus bud chain on the neck below the overhanging rim. Surmounting the two wide strap handles is a roaring lion with a stippled mane, facing inwards. For a related example from the Argive Heraion, with a single handle surmounted by a sphinx, now in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, see no. 264 in C. Rolley, Greek Bronzes.