• Stone pyxis with relief reclining dog on the lid



Stone pyxis with relief reclining dog on the lid
Stone pyxis with relief reclining dog on the lid

Stone pyxis with relief reclining dog on the lid

Λ2719
Stone (Chlorite or chloritic schist)
The dog's head and small parts of the lid are restored.
Height: 6 cm. Diameter: 12.5 cm.
Zakros
Gorge of the Dead, burial cave
Early Bronze Age, Prepalatial period, Early Minoan ΙI period.:
2700 - 2200 BC:
Gallery:
I
Case:
9
Exhibition thematic unit:
Early Bronze Age - Prepalatial period (3000 - 1900 BC). Settlements and cemeteries - the rise of ruling groups
The art of stone. A new craft flourishes
Description
Small cylindrical pyxis (jewellery box) found accompanying an Early Minoan II burial together with another spherical pyxis, a small jug and a cup. Pyxides were used to store jewellery or other small items. The incised decoration of filled triangles covers the whole surface of the vessel, while the integral lid handle is in the shape of a reclining dog. An identical lid comes from the Early Minoan cemetery of Mochlos, and the two vessels are believed to be the work of the same artist or workshop. Two pairs of holes placed diametrically opposite each other on the rim of the lid and the base were used to secure the lid to the body of the pyxis. The grey-green chlorite of which the Zakros and Mochlos pyxis are made is one of the soft stones preferred by stone-carvers in the first half of Early Minoan II, as they were easier to carve, while artisans gradually began to work harder stones.
Bibliography:
Platon, Ν. "Ανασκαφαί Ζάκρου." Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας (1963): 188, pl. 154β. Warren, P. Minoan Stone Vases. Cambridge, 1969, 82.
Author:
E. S.


Photographs' metadata