Band cups are a form of ancient Greek Attic

Attica

Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...

 Little-master cups.
The lip of a band cup is black and slightly concave. At the joint between vase body and foot, there is often a red ring. The external figural decaration is in the area of the handles, often framed by palmette

Palmette

The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...

s. Internal images and inscriptions are quite rare. Some specimens are completely black with the exception of some figures near the handles. Another very rare group of specimens, attributed to the potter Andokides

Andokides

Andokides was a famous potter of Ancient Greece. The painter of his pots was an anonymous artist, the Andokides painter, who is recognized as the creater of the red-figure style, beginning around 530 BC. His work is compared with Exekias, who was said to have created the most detailed and best...

 and his workshop, have figural decoration on the flat base of the foot.
It remains unknown why band cups and Lip cup

Lip Cup

Lip cups are a type of ancient Greek Attic Little-master cups.Lip cups were produced since the middle of the sixth centre BC in Athens. They resemble Gordion cups, but their lip or rim was more clearly distinguished from the rest of the body. They had high feet on broad bases...

s existed side by side for a considerable period. Perhaps, each variant had its own distinctive advantages. For example, it may have been more pleasant to drink from the undecorated black-slipped lip of a band cup, while the strong ridge underneath the rim of lip cups would have prevented spilling more effectively. Lip cups were somewhat more difficult to produce.
Well-known artists of this type were Hermogenes

Hermogenes (potter)

Hermogenes was an Attic potter. He was active in Athens in the mid-6th century BC and belongs to the group known as the Little masters.Hermogenes mainly produced cups . Well-known are his Band cupss with depictions of women's heads on the band. The Hermogenic skyphos, a specific type of skyphos...

, Glaukytes, the Centaur Painter, Neandros, Sokles and the Oakeshott Painter.