An Attic Classical Pottery Lidded Pyxis, Classical Period, ca. 5th century BCE
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Wheel-made ceramic pyxis of cylindrical form with a low spreading foot ring and shallow domed lid. The vessel is carefully proportioned, with a beveled interior rim designed to securely receive the lid. The exterior is plain and burnished, displaying natural firing tones ranging from buff to reddish-brown with areas of darker surface discoloration acquired through age and burial. The lid is decorated with two concentric raised bands, providing restrained ornament characteristic of plain domestic wares of the Classical period.
Pyxides were among the most favored personal vessels used by Greek women for storing cosmetics, jewelry, perfumed oils, and other small personal possessions. They are frequently recovered from domestic assemblages as well as graves, where they served as symbols of personal adornment and everyday life. While many surviving examples are elaborately painted, plain pyxides such as this example demonstrate that functional household vessels were often valued for their balanced proportions and fine craftsmanship rather than painted decoration.
Medium: Ceramic
Dimensions: Height: 2.5 inches (6.35 cm); Diameter: 6 inches (15.24 cm)
Condition: Complete with matching lid. The body has been professionally conserved following an ancient break. Minor ancient chips and abrasions to the body and lid, together with expected surface wear consistent with age. Scattered mineral encrustation and burial accretions remain, particularly around the foot ring and lower body, adding to the vessel's archaeological character. Otherwise in very good overall condition.
Provenance: Phillip Adams Collection of Ancient Art, Sydney, Australia, acquired in the 1970s. From the collection of Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams AO, FAHA, FRSA (b. 1939), one of Australia's best-known broadcasters, authors, and public intellectuals. Adams assembled an important collection of antiquities over several decades while pursuing a lifelong interest in the ancient world. He has been appointed both a Member and Officer of the Order of Australia, was named one of Australia's 100 National Living Treasures, and in 1997 a minor planet between Mars and Jupiter was named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union.
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