Pyxis (pottery)

A ''pyxis'' (, plural ''pyxides'') is a shape of vessel from the classical world, usually a cylindrical box with a separate lid. Originally mostly used by women to hold cosmetics, trinkets or jewellery, surviving ''pyxides'' are mostly Greek pottery, but especially in later periods may be in wood, metal, ivory, or other materials. The name derived from Corinthian boxes made of wood from the tree ''puksos'' (boxwood), that also came with covers. The shape of the vessel can be traced in pottery back to the Protogeometric period in Athens, however the Athenian ''pyxis'' has various shapes itself.

At first, the two varieties of ''pyxis'' included the pointed and the flat-bottomed. The pointed ''pyxis'' didn't last much longer than the ninth century BCE, while the flat-bottomed continued into the late Geometric. It also continued to grow larger and more squat in proportions. The cover often depicts elaborately sculpted handles and the walls tend to be somewhat convex. During the sixth century BCE, Athens began producing boxes with concave walls that enabled them to be grasped easily when arranged close together on a shelf. Compare the waisted shape of the medieval and Early Modern albarello. Images on the ''pyxis'' usually depict the marriage procession from a young girl's house to that of her new husband.

Pyx is a term for a specifically liturgical box, usually cylindrical, but of variable design, still used for holding and transporting consecrated hosts in the traditional Christian churches, a use to which the church began to put these boxes at a very early date.

Gallery

File:Pisside con rilievi in faience, da polledrara, vulci, 750-700 ac ca. 01.JPG, Pyxis made out of "Egyptian faience". Imported to Italy from northern Syria. Produced 750-700 BC., Altes Museum
File:Byzantine - Circular Pyxis - Walters 7164 - View A.jpg, Circular pyxis, 5th Century, The Walters Art Museum
File:Roman - Pyxis - Walters 4776 - View B.jpg, An exquisite example of Roman luxury glassware, used to hold cosmetics or precious jewellery
File:Pyxis with four horses, Greece, Attica, Geometric Period, 8th century BC, terracotta - Wadsworth Atheneum - Hartford, CT - DSC05138.jpg, Horse pyxis
File:Athens_Pyxis_depicting_a_hand.jpg, 4th century Athenian ''pyxis'' with a depiction of a hand, National Museum in Warsaw
File:Ivory Pyxis from Cordoba.JPG, Ivory pyxis from Cordoba, Spain, 10th Century AD, Victoria and Albert Museum
File:Pyxis_ECII_NAMA_080763.jpg, Spool-shaped pyxis (NAMA 5225)

{{Greek vase shapes

Ancient Greek pot shapes
Containers