Athenaeus[678] cites the Athenian and Argive kylikes as being of special repute; the latter are described by Simonides as φοξίχειλος, a word of doubtful meaning.[679] In the former’s own city of Naukratis a special kind of kylix[680] was made by hand (not on the wheel), with four handles and a very flat base, and this was dipped in a solution of silver to give it a metallic appearance.[681] Lacedaemonian, Chian, and Teian kylikes are also mentioned (the last-named by Alcaeus: see p. 64). But the most famous variety was the Thericleian, so named from Therikles, a Corinthian potter contemporary with Aristophanes. These cups were chiefly made at Athens; they are frequently mentioned by Middle and New Comedy writers, and are described by Athenaeus[682] as depressed round the sides, deep, with short handles. They were imitated in wood or glass, and gilded, and Athenaeus mentions that the Rhodians made ἡδυποτίδες (see above) in emulation of them.[683] Besides the various diminutive forms of κύλιξ, such as κυλίχνη (see above, p. 133), κυλίσκη, etc.,[684] there is a long list of synonyms for this form, about most of which, however, there is nothing to say except that they are probably mere nicknames. Athenaeus gives the following: Κονώνιος, Λάκαινα, λοιβάσιον, πεντάπλοον, σκάλλιον, χαλκόστομος, χόννος, and μαθαλίς; also μετάνιπτρον, from its use after the washing of the hands, _i.e._ at the end of the meal; Προυσίας, named from a king of Bithynia; and φιλοτησία, corresponding to our “loving-cup.”[685] In the history of Greek vase-painting the kylix is a shape known and popular at all periods, from the Mycenaean Age down to the end of the fifth century; in the fabrics of Southern Italy it but seldom occurs. The Mycenaean form is peculiarly graceful, with its tall stem and swelling bowl; it is generally decorated with a cuttle-fish, a motive well suited to its outlines (see Plate XV.). During the archaic period of Greek vases a steady development can be traced, both in form and methods of decoration, until the outburst of the R.F. style. The early Corinthian specimens (cf. p. 313) are somewhat cumbrous, with very low stem, shallow bowl with heavy overhanging lip and small handles; in strong contrast thereto are the Cyrenaic cups (p. 341 ff.), which are in execution quite in advance of their time (first half of sixth century); their graceful, delicate forms are evidently imitated from metal. These early cups are as a rule covered with a cream-coloured or buff slip and decorated all over, and the interior designs, which cover the whole or almost the whole of the inside, are a marked feature of these types. [Illustration: FIG. 51. KYLIX (EARLIER FORM).]