Bone pyxis (box with lid)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Most Roman pyxides made from pieces of animal bone are, like these examples, relatively plain and display a simple charm and elegance. They probably formed part of a lady's cosmetic or trinket set. The taller pyxis (2000.5a, b) may have been found in Rome, together with the rock crystal and silver spoon (2000.1) also displayed in this case.

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