Pyxis (vessel)

There were many different varieties of pyxis, popular in different times and places. The earliest were the Protogeometric type of vessel which had a globular body, and the pointed-bottom pyxis from the early Geometric period.^[4] The pointed pyxis didn't last much longer than the ninth century BCE. During the later Geometric period another style emerged with a flat, very broad base.^[5] Contemporary scholarship classifies pyxides as either: type A, type B, type C, type D, lekanis, Nikosthenic, or tripod.^[6]

 

This type was introduced by Nikosthenes during the late sixth century BCE. It is characterised by a deep, calyx-shaped bowl with a flanged rim and a stemmed foot, and a domed lid.^[7] The decorations on pyxides found in an Etruscan context tend towards depictions of battles and athletic contests; for pyxides found in Greek and near eastern Mediterranean settings the depictions tend to be of marriage, childbirth, or religious processions.^[8] Evidence suggests that this was a popular type on the eastern Aegean island of Samos and in Etruria between 560–500 BCE.^[9]

Proto-Geometric type

Examples of pyxide from the Proto-Geometric style of Greek pottery normally between roughly 1050 and 900 BCE^[10][11] include the globular pyxis, a type of pyxis characterized with a wide, circular body and a flared lip at the top of the vessel.^[12] Other forms of pyxide commonly from the early geometric period include the pointed pyxis is a type of pyxis characteried with a wide tip that thins into a point at the bottom.^[12]

Conrinthian type

Corinthian style pyxides usually share similar traits of being less circular than traditional Greek geometric style pyxides. This can be seen in the tall convex pyxis,^[12] and the 8th century straight-sided pyxis^[12] Corinthian styles. Other forms of Corintian pyxyde inclue the Type II: Low Concave-sided pyxis^[13] dated around the 5th and 4th centuries BC and the Type III: High Concave-sided pyxis^[12] dated ca. late 7th century BC

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  Pyxis made out of "Egyptian faience". Imported to Italy from northern Syria. Produced 750–700 BC, Altes Museum.
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  A Roman luxury Pyxis, used to hold cosmetics or precious jewellery - Walters Art Museum
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  Pyxis with four horses, Greece, Attica, Geometric Period, 8th century BC, terracotta - Wadsworth Atheneum - Hartford, CT
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  4th century "Type IV" Athenian pyxis with a depiction of a hand, National Museum, Warsaw
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  Ivory pyxis from Córdoba, Spain, 10th Century AD, Victoria and Albert Museum
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  Example of a "Globular" style Pyxis - Clay pyxis with lid, Protogeometric Period, 10th c. BC
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  Example of a "Type II", Low Concave-sided, Pyxis c. 400 B.C. - Metropolitan Museum of Arts
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  Example of a terracotta "Type III: High Concave-sided" pyxis style
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  Example of a "pointed" style of pyxis, ca. 900-875 BC, Louvre Museum

• Pyxis of Zamora
• Pyxis of al-Mughira
• Pyxis of Čierne Kľačany

• Roberts, Sally (1978). The Attic Pyxis. Ares Publishers.
• Folsom, Robert (1967). Handbook of Greek Pottery. New York Graphic Society Ltd.
• Lyons, Claire (2009). "Nikosthenic pyxides between Etruria and Greece". In Oakley, John; Palagia, Olga (eds.). Athenian Potters and Painters Volume II. Oxbow Books. pp. 166–180. ISBN 978-1-84217-350-3.
• Sparkes, Brian A. (1991). Greek Pottery: An Introduction. Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed exclusively in the USA and Canada by St. Martin's Press
• Dickinson, Oliver (1994). The Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press

 

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