English: The Vapheio tholos tomb, Lakonia 15th cent. B.C.

Christos Tsountas discovered two remarkable gold cups in the tholos tomb of Vapheio, near Sparta, Lakonia, in 1888. He found these masterpieces of Creto-Mycenaean metallurgy inside an undisturbed burial pit situated beneath the tomb's floor. Created by one or two artisans in the 15th century B.C. when Minoan influence on Aegean art was predominant, these cups had repousse external decoration and gold leaf inside. Their characteristic shape gave the conventional name 'Vapheio-type cup' to all similar shaped Mycenaean metal or ceramic vessels.

The narrative decoration on these cups depicts the capture of bulls. The bull was a favoured motif in Minoan and Mycenaean iconography. It symbolized nature's power and fertility, and the wild bull hunt was an arduous and dangerous affair.

2. In a landscape full of olive trees, a bull is captured by peaceful means: a man ties a thick rope around the bull's leg, while the beast flirts with a cow. Inv. no. 1759. National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Text: museum label.