Terracotta pyxis (cosmetic box) with domed lid

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The preserved decoration on this white-ground pyxis, which consists of stippled swags tied with bows of olive branches, is very similar to that on the flaring bowl nearby. Both pieces are painted in the style of Lagynos ware, examples of which have been found throughout the Mediterranean, but in especially great numbers around Pergamon. The simple form of this pyxis, with its tapering body, flanged base, and unadorned domed lid, is perhaps a regional variation of the shape from Asia Minor that serves as a more humble counterpart to the more ornate examples of the type, such as the Macedonian pyxis also in this case (1979.76a,b).

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art