Abstract: A swash-plate machine includes a hollow-spherical work chamber which is divided by a partition into at least one high-pressure chamber and one low-pressure chamber, into which an operating medium can be carried through a conduit system. The partition extends up to a piston carrier and cooperates with a plate-like sealing strip. A circular piston is adapted to the diameter of the work chamber and communicates with the exterior through a supported drive shaft which effects a tumbling motion of the piston. The piston has at least one radial slit extending from the circumference to approximately the piston carrier. A guide journal which is inserted in the slit cooperates with the partition. The piston tapers outward toward the circumference. End surfaces of the piston are in contact with opposed lateral surfaces that extend at right angles to the axis of rotation of the drive shaft and laterally define the work chamber.