Small Container (Pyxis) With Lid: Three Women and their Maids
Artist
Eretria Painter
Dateabout 430–425 B.C.E.
Mediumred-figure painted pottery
Dimensions11.4 x 14 cm (4 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number1935.148
DescriptionPyxix- On the cover: Two Erotes pitting cocks and two Erotes with a hare. On the sides: three groups of two women, a mistress and her maid at her toilet. Pottery. Red-figured.Label TextDuring much of the age of the great statesman Perikles (the later fifth century B.C.), Athens was embroiled in a long and bitter civil war. Weary of fighting, Athenians increasingly rejected the depictions of battle scenes on pottery in favor of peaceful motifs of heavenly gardens with young, playful divinities. Most popular was Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty and the antithesis of war. Very common at this time were pyxides, small containers for perfume and cosmetics, whose use might transform the average Athenian housewife into the love goddess herself. On the lid of this pyxis are depicted two pairs of playful Erotes, the companions of Aphrodite at play. One pair holds roosters in preparation for a fight, while the other displays a leashed rabbit (symbol of erotic love) to a potential lover. Around the cylindrical body are three vignettes of an aristocratic woman at leisure in her home with a maidservant in attendance. The so-called Eretria Painter was an accomplished artist whose interest centered on charming, intimate scenes, displaying the fashions and pastimes of the rich. These portrayals, replete with intriguing details of costume, hairstyle, and furnishings, represent an idealized stereotype of daily life for Athenian upper-class women who lived isolated at home.ProvenanceEdward Zoumpoulakis, by 1934; consigned to the Brummer Gallery, New York, October 27, 1934 [object inventory card no. X804]; sold to the Worcester Art Museum, October 21, 1935.
On View
Not on viewCollections
440–430 BCE
