Art Institute of Chicago

Pyxis (Container for Personal Objects)

Greek; AthensLinkedCulture matchlcp-96247048df89

Date

430-420 BCE

Medium

terracotta, red-figure

Culture

Athens

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Object ID

616

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 effects like cosmetics, jewelry, or other trinkets and were often given as wedding gifts.

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