Pyxis (Container for Personal Objects)
430-420 BCE
Medium
terracotta, red-figure
Dimensions
13.3 × 10.5 cm (5 1/4 × 4 1/8 in.); Diam.: 10.5 cm (4 1/8 in.)
Classification
vessel
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
616
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Nine women are depicted in the figured scene that runs right around the vase. The women are presumably in the gynaikeion or women's quarters, and include a seated woman with a book roll, a woman holding wreath, a woman with a mirror, a woman with an alabastron, a woman with a sash, a woman with a lyre, a woman with a mirror, a girl standing stiff and straight to the right, who might be the bride-to-be, and a woman with an alabastron. Vessels of this type were probably used to hold personal effe...
About the Artist
Ancient Greek
The artist known simply as "Ancient Greek" represents the anonymous masters of Attic vase painting, a cornerstone of Classical Greek art from the Archaic and Classical periods (circa 700–300 BCE). Little is known of their personal life, as ancient Greek potters and painters rarely signed their works or left biographical traces; early life and training remain not well documented. These creators ope...