Price guide to pyxides / jewellery boxes. A pyxis 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. Reference: Wikipedia
An Attic red-figure tripod pyxis
Attributed to the Long Chin Group, circa 450-400 B.C.
The spool-shaped body decorated with a domestic scene of five women, all wearing patterned chitons and voluminous himations, arranged in two groups of paired women running towards each other with outstretched arms, one holding a skein of wool (?), a kalathos between each pair, and one of the women looking back over her shoulder to the fifth woman, shown seated and offering a skein of wool(?) in her outstretched hand to her companion, the circular lid with concentric bands of laurel, chevrons and tongues, and a now-missing knop handle, details in added white, 14cm high.
Sold for £ 8,750 inc. premium at Bonhams in 2017
AN ATTIC POTTERY LIDDED PYXIS
GEOMETRIC PERIOD, CIRCA MID-8TH CENTURY B.C.
The circular body with gently rounded sides, decorated in dark brown glaze with geometric patterns including swastikas, chevrons, zigzags, dotted circles with rays, the underside of the base with concentric circles between wavy dotted bands, the interior lip with concentric circles and four attachment holes, the slightly raised lid with three horses standing foursquare in the middle, each with dotted lines running along their ridged manes, down their backs and tails, the lid decorated with bands of concentric circles, dots, zigzags and swastikas, a large circular hole at the centre, four attachment holes at the edge conforming to those on the body
9 5/8 in. (24.4 cm.) diam.; 7 in. (17.7 cm.) high incl. lid.
Sold for GBP 20,000 at Christies in 2016
Hellenistic Greek Pottery Lidded Pyxis, ex-Sotheby’s
Greece, Hellenistic, ca. 3rd century BCE. A breathtaking redware lidded and footed pyxis of a sizeable scale, the lid adorned with a beautiful molded female face presenting sensitively modeled features and cascading wavy hair in relief, this roundel surrounded by a curved section decorated with an incised and yellow-painted laurel vine, and finally a flat, extended lip. Below this are leafy garlands festooned around the perimeter of body of the lid – also in yellow pigment, followed by a yellow band two-thirds of the way down the lid. The lid fits the lower container of the pyxis perfectly, and all is supported by three zoomorphic legs delineated with an incised furry coat and claws, Size: 7.5″ in diameter at widest x 9.25″ H (19 cm x 23.5 cm)
A pyxis like this example would have been given to a bride to commemorate her wedding day – quite a keepsake to remember her joyous day!
Sold For: $1,900 at Artemis Gallery
A Byzantine Lidded Glass Pyxis.
Byzantine, ca. 6th-7th Century A.D.
Dimensions: Height 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.), 2 1/4 (5.7 cm.) (without lid)
Provenance: Ex- Netherlands private collection, 1988.
Sold For: $650 at Aphrodite Gallery
Roman Bronze Lidded Pyxis – Pegasus & Lions.
Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 4th century CE. A cast bronze pyxis depicting scenes of fantastical animals in low relief. Chasing around its lid are a rabbit and two pegasi; around the exterior base is a scene of lions hunting deer. The interior is smooth and the pyxis stands on a round foot. A hinge and a fitted clasp project upwards from the wide rim. The lid has a handle terminating in a tiny, round loop for suspension. Size: 3.05″ W x 2.25″ H (7.7 cm x 5.7 cm)
The pyxis form is found throughout the ancient Near East and the Classical world: a rounded vessel with small fitted lid, originally made to hold cosmetics, trinkets, or jewelry. Later Christian examples were made to hold the Host. This example is clearly from a pre-Christian time – replete with symbols full of meaning for the Romans, like the hunting prowess and power of the lion and the Olympian connections of the Pegasus.
Provenance: Ex-Private East Coast, USA Collection
Sold For: $1,075
French, Limoges, circa 1225-1275
PYXIS
7.5cm., 3in.
gilt and champlevé enamelled copper, set with glass cabochons.
A closely related pyxis with similar green glass cabochons and swirling foliate decoration is in the Louvre Museum (inv. no. MR 2655).
Sold for 6,875 GBP at Sothebys
