Droop cup facts for kids

A Droop cup from the Louvre Museum in Paris

The bottom of another Droop cup, showing its unique design

Droop cups (say "Drope") are a special kind of ancient Greek pottery. They are a type of "Little-master cup," which means they are smaller, finely made drinking cups. These cups were mostly made between 550 and 510 BC, mainly in a region called Laconia (which is where the famous city of Sparta was located). They are named after John Percival Droop, an English archaeologist who was the first to identify them.

What Makes a Droop Cup Special?

Droop cups have a few unique features that help you spot them.

The Lip and Foot

• Distinct Lip: The top part of the cup, called the lip, is black and curves inward. It stands out clearly from the rest of the cup's body.
• Tall Foot: The base, or foot, of the cup is quite tall. It often has a raised line in the natural clay color near the top, and another similar band just below it. Sometimes, this lower band has small cuts or slashes.
• Black Base Edge: The very edge of the foot is painted black.
• Inside the Foot: If you look inside the hollow foot, you'll see a wide black painted band.

Inside the Cup

• Special Inside Design: On the inside bottom of the cup, the black paint (called "slip") usually has a clear stripe without paint, deep below the rim. Sometimes, there's also a circle at the very bottom that is left unpainted. This creates a neat pattern inside the cup.

The History of Droop Cup Designs

The way Droop cups were decorated changed over time.

Early Designs (Around 550 BC)

• All Black: The very first Droop cups, made around 550 BC, were completely black. This simple, all-black style continued to be made even as other designs became popular.
• Bud Decorations: Some early cups had small, bud-like decorations near the handles.

Later Designs (From 540 BC Onwards)

• More Decorations: Around 540 BC, the decoration changed a lot. The entire outside of the cup, from below the lip to above the foot, was decorated with different patterns.
• Common Patterns: These patterns included bands, palmettes (a design shaped like a palm leaf), simple leaves, dots, rays, or even outlines of animals.
• Rare Figures: It was very rare to see actual people or detailed scenes painted on these cups. They mostly featured patterns.

Connections to Sparta

• Shared Ideas: The decorative styles seen on Droop cups after 540 BC are very similar to cups made in Laconia, especially around Sparta. This suggests that artists in both places might have been inspired by the same East Greek pottery designs.
• Spartan Influence: Later on, some decorative ideas were directly copied from Sparta.
• End of an Era: Most Droop cups stopped being made around 510 BC, though simple black-painted cups continued for a while longer.

See also

In Spanish: Copa Droop para niños