DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0481
428
THE IVORY DEPOSIT
Ivory Deposit with Acrobatic Figures.
Among the relics derived from the Temple Treasury the most remark-
Figures
ofacro-
batic
youths.
Arms
and legs.
Fig. 294.
a, b, Ivory Forearm of Leaping
Youth (f).
The
deposit of . .
ivories. able group was that of the ivories already referred to as having been found
in the little Closet beneath the
' Service Stairs'. Certain relics
found with them, such as the
fragments of a crystal bowl, were
shared by the deposit found
beneath the floor of the Store-
room, separated from the first by
anarrow passage-way —a circu in-
stance explained by the deriva-
tion of both deposits from the
Treasury above. That the ivory-
relics found in the Closet pre-
sented a more or less homogeneous character finds its natural explanation
in their having been originally contained in a separate chest, and a mass of
carbonized woodwork found with these seems to show that the chest in
which they were contained had fallen on this side.
What specially characterized this 'Ivory Deposit' was the remains of
a series of figurines representing youths—approximately of the same scale,
but with some slight differences in detail—in the familiar act of springing
down as if to grapple the heads of charging bulls. The possibility that one
or other of the fragmentary limbs discovered may have belonged to a figure
of a female acrobat must also be borne in mind.
A head, forearms, and legs are reproduced to natural scale in Suppl.
PL XXXVIII. The parts of the body were cut out of solid ivory, and the
joints with which the members are fitted into corresponding sockets are well
shown by the forearm, Fig. 294, a, b, there enlarged by one-half. It will be
seen that in some cases the wrists and ankles are encircled with bracelets and
anklets, and the lower part of the leg reproduced in Suppl. PI. XXXVIII, c,
bears clear traces of a kind of 'mocassin', gradually tapering to a point
slightly upturned, like those worn by the taureadors of the frescoes.1
The arm reproduced in Fig. 295 (if scale) gives a good idea of the
fidelity in detail. While the biceps and succeeding supinator are here well
indicated, the extensors of the wrist and hand are shown in full action, and
1 Coloured Plate XXI.
THE IVORY DEPOSIT
Ivory Deposit with Acrobatic Figures.
Among the relics derived from the Temple Treasury the most remark-
Figures
ofacro-
batic
youths.
Arms
and legs.
Fig. 294.
a, b, Ivory Forearm of Leaping
Youth (f).
The
deposit of . .
ivories. able group was that of the ivories already referred to as having been found
in the little Closet beneath the
' Service Stairs'. Certain relics
found with them, such as the
fragments of a crystal bowl, were
shared by the deposit found
beneath the floor of the Store-
room, separated from the first by
anarrow passage-way —a circu in-
stance explained by the deriva-
tion of both deposits from the
Treasury above. That the ivory-
relics found in the Closet pre-
sented a more or less homogeneous character finds its natural explanation
in their having been originally contained in a separate chest, and a mass of
carbonized woodwork found with these seems to show that the chest in
which they were contained had fallen on this side.
What specially characterized this 'Ivory Deposit' was the remains of
a series of figurines representing youths—approximately of the same scale,
but with some slight differences in detail—in the familiar act of springing
down as if to grapple the heads of charging bulls. The possibility that one
or other of the fragmentary limbs discovered may have belonged to a figure
of a female acrobat must also be borne in mind.
A head, forearms, and legs are reproduced to natural scale in Suppl.
PL XXXVIII. The parts of the body were cut out of solid ivory, and the
joints with which the members are fitted into corresponding sockets are well
shown by the forearm, Fig. 294, a, b, there enlarged by one-half. It will be
seen that in some cases the wrists and ankles are encircled with bracelets and
anklets, and the lower part of the leg reproduced in Suppl. PI. XXXVIII, c,
bears clear traces of a kind of 'mocassin', gradually tapering to a point
slightly upturned, like those worn by the taureadors of the frescoes.1
The arm reproduced in Fig. 295 (if scale) gives a good idea of the
fidelity in detail. While the biceps and succeeding supinator are here well
indicated, the extensors of the wrist and hand are shown in full action, and
1 Coloured Plate XXI.