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Haimon Painter

Lidded Cylindrical Box (Pyxis)

Maker

School of Haimon Painter (Greek, ca. 460-435 BC)

Culture

Greek

Title

Lidded Cylindrical Box (Pyxis)

Year

500-474 BCE

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

clay

Geography

Place Made: Attica

Dimensions

Height: 12.7 cm (5 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

34.1374

Type

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries
Sep 22, 2010

Label copy

In ancient Greece small, lidded boxes (pyxides) were primarily used to hold cosmetics, trinkets, or jewelry; less frequently, they served as containers for incense or medical ointments. These boxes, however, were not everyday objects, but rather luxury items designed for the wealthy. Pyxides are commonly found in burial contexts, suggesting that they were used to store valuable objects in life and in death. They are often embellished with elaborately painted images designed to communicate wealth and social status. The decorative elements of this terracotta pyxis illustrate leisure activities of the elite; the body features a symposium scene of five reclining men drinking and playing the double-flute and lyre, while the lid depicts a lone hunter and his prey.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

School of Haimon Painter (Greek, ca. 460-435 BC)
Lidded Cylindrical Box (Pyxis), 500-474 BCE
Terracotta, black-figure
Height: 12.7 cm (5 inches)
Museum Appropriation Fund 34.1374

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