Helen and Paris Egg-Shaped Pyxis

Helen and Paris Egg-Shaped Pyxisfrom THETIS cabinet (one of a kind) Oon: Egg Shaped Red Figure Pyxis, after the Washing Painter A rare egg shaped red figure pyxis, based on an Attic original attributed to the Washing Painter, ca. 420410 BC, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This small terracotta vessel belongs to the distinctive class of oon ( or n), vases formed in the shape of an egg. The scene, showing a youth abducting a woman, is often interpreted as Paris and

from THETIS cabinet (one-of-a-kind)

Oon: Egg-Shaped Red-Figure Pyxis, after the Washing Painter

A rare egg-shaped red-figure pyxis, based on an Attic original attributed to the Washing Painter, ca. 420–410 BC, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This small terracotta vessel belongs to the distinctive class of oon (ᾠόν or ōón), vases formed in the shape of an egg.

The scene, showing a youth abducting a woman, is often interpreted as Paris and Helen. In antiquity, eggs were associated with birth, renewal, and funerary symbolism. The vessel’s egg-shaped form is especially suited to the myth of Helen, whose birth was traditionally linked to an egg.

First produced at the ATTIC BLACK workshop in December 2012 and until 2018, this type remained part of our collection for several years. The present oon was decorated at the end of 2018 by our master vase painter of the time, Vicky Xyda-Ralli. 

Dimensions H: 7,3 cm, Max D : 6,7 cm