The so-called ‘Chalcidian’ vases are a homogenous group of highquality black- figure pottery produced during the second half of the 6th c. BC. They are decorated with vegetal and pictorial motifs (exotic animals, daemonic creatures, scenes from myths as well as from daily life), and are distinguished by the lavish use of added purple and white. ‘Chalcidian’ vases have been found mainly in graves in the West (South Italy, Sicily, Etruria, Massalia [mod. Marseilles], and Emporion [mod. Ampurias] in Spain). Their name is due to the fact that they frequently bear inscriptions in letters of the Chalcidian alphabet. As no such vases have been found in the Euboean city of Chalcis, however, most researchers consider them to come from a Chalcidian colony in Magna Graecia, for example Rhegion. The ‘eye cup’ is ascribed to the Phineus Group. The characteristic decoration with enormous eyes on a schematised face possibly refers to folk beliefs about the ‘evil eye’ and the warding off of its effect, or simply warned the user of the vase about the loss of consciousness that excessive wine-drinking caused.