Provincial Greek black-figure stamnoid pyxis and cover

<p><br></p> <p>This small round ceramic container was known in the ancient Greek world as a pyxis. Made in the early sixth century BCE, they were used to store cosmetics, jewelry, and personal objects. The distinctive globular shape and double handles of this example, resembling a storage jar called a stamnos, belongs to a class of pyxis called a stamnoid pyxis.  Stamnoid pyxides were often placed in tombs as offerings and occasionally served as cremation urns. Their shape could vary as squat, cylindrical or spherical, often enriched with a separate lid and handles. and decorated in a style that connects it to Greek mythology. This example is in light brown clay, with globular shape and rising short handles. The base shows a ring foot in faded black. It is simply decorated with horizontal black-glaze bands and three continuous friezes around the body of the vessel, maeanders and ocean-like patterns of waves. The thick lid is black with two concentric bands, one of which is dotted and a black knob handle that flares to a flat rim.</p> <p><u>Stylistic remarks:</u> the stamnoid shape of this type of pyxides resembles a lebes gamikos and they are related to the Rhodian production from the later 6th through to the later 4th century BC. From around the mid-5th century onwards they sometimes carried an eclectic painted decoration including geometric ornaments, laurel wreaths, and birds.</p> <p><u>Object number:</u> 127.031.</p> <p><u>Date:</u> 550–500 B.C.</p> <p><u>Parallels:</u> London, British Museum 1863,0728.69, 1864,1007.259, 1864,1007.319, 1864,1007.360, 1868,1025.79, 1901,0609.22; Reading, Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology 56.8.2; Philadelphia, Barnes Foundation collection A104ab; Chicago, Art Institute Chicago 1905.343a-b, 1910.209a-b; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 06.1116, 57.12.3.</p> <p><u>References:</u> Payne, H., <em>Necrocorinthia: A study of Corinthian Art in the Archaic Period</em>, Oxford, 1931, no. 908, pl. 29; Ure, Annie D. “Some Provincial Black-Figure Workshops”, <em>The Annual of the British School at Athens</em>, 41, British School at Athens, Cambridge University Press, 1940, pp. 22–28; Ure, A. D., "Two groups of floral black-figure", <em>Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies</em>, 1961, 8, 1961, pp. 1-5; Amyx, D. A., <em>Corinthian Vase-Painting of the Archaic Period</em>, Berkeley, 1988, p. 349, A32bis; Bohen, B. E., "Attic geometric pyxis", PhD Dissertation, New York University, 1979; Wachter, R., 2001. <em>Non-Attic Greek Vase Inscriptions</em>, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 222–3; Heinrich, F., <em>Das Epinetron. Aspekte der weiblichen Lebenswelt im Spiegel eines Arbeitsgeräts,</em> Rahden, 2006, pp. 154-156.</p><p>Photo by Steve Morton</p>