Collections Online

About two dozen fragments conjoin to reveal about three-quarters of the base, but only about a quarter of the wall fo a cylindrical cup, the rim being plain and the base flat. The decoration, wholly relief-cut, can be completely restored as follows:

(1) Three-quarters of the periphery is occupied, between vertical bars, by a convivial motto in letters 20mm high, ZHCAIC KANWC, zesais kalos, literally meaning 'mayest thou live well' and in modern slang terms 'have a good time'.

(2) Below this inscription is a row of seven opposed stemless leaves, plain with curving tips, arrange horizontally.

(3) At the carination is a double wreath, issuing from a rectangular jewel, probably with a rectangular central element.

(4) Within the bars marking off the fourth quarter is on either side a vertical row of three berries.

(5) A single leaf, tip-down, occupies the central space directly above the jewel mentioned in (3).

(6) The basal design consists of a radial arrangement of six broader leaves with internal detail indicated by cuts; the tips are suppressed to allow for a central roundel with tangential cuts and medial pellet.

LI2.1