This tripod pyxis (inv. number ΜΘ 9169) decorated in the red-figure style was found in 1982 in a grave at Nea Kallikrateia in Chalkidiki. The pyxis dates to around 400 B.C.

Most probably a product of a local workshop, imitating contemporary Attic vase-painting.

A group of dancing girls surrounds the body of the vessel. Six young girls are depicted, with long, lavish garments, jewellery on their necks and wrists, and their hair worn high in a bun.

They hold each other’s hands and dance to the right, while their graceful clothes flap as a result of their movement.

The depicted dance of young women probably takes place during a religious festival.

The lid of the vessel is covered with a series of moving figures: a deer, a cupid chasing a hare, and two winged goddesses with long garment turning towards a bird.

Pyxides were often decorated with subjects related to women. Pyxides were cylindrical vessels used to store items for female adornment, jewellery or cosmetics (psimmithia). Their name derives from the hard, durable wood of the boxwood tree, out of which the original, wooden pyxides were made.

You can see the exhibit in the permanent exhibition "Macedonia from the 7th c. BC to Late Antiquity", showcase 36.