107 2 Terracotta spindle whorl, Greek, Attic, 6th–5th century BCE, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 27.25, height 3.8 centimetres. 3 a–b Black-figure pyxis (a jewellery container) with lid, terracotta, Greek, Attic, 530–520 BCE, Bochum, Art Collections of the Ruhr-University, inv. S 1212, height 11.8 centimetres. The spindle whorl would have been attached to one end of the spindle as a swing weight to make the spindle rotate evenly. Elaborately made and decorated whorls such as this one were also deposited in women’s tombs as grave goods. In antiquity, spinning was the preserve of women. The figurative scene on the vessel depicts various stages of textile production in a domestic setting. Different social groups, such as citizen women, servant women and slaves, are differentiated by their size and clothing.
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