DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14140#0038
30
No. 53. Swan, brooding on her nest with wings spread;
from under her left wing a boy emerges, and on the right
of her other wing is another boy, who appears to be winged,
and who is carrying some object, perhaps a vase; the
swan's head is turned towards this boj". This beautiful
composition is carved in relief on the cover of a pyxis ; the
plumage of the swan is wrought with extreme delicacy.
The subject has been thought to refer to Leda and the
Dioskuri ; but if one of the boys is winged, as would seem
to be the case, they are both probably Cupids or Genii.
Diam. 3 in. Nola.
No. 54. Comic actor, enveloped in a mantle which falls
to the feet, and in which both hands are muffled. Pie is
bald, with projecting ears, the head inclining towards the
left shoulder. The right arm is crossed over the breast;
the end of the mantle is cast over the left shoulder, falling
in a vertical fold down the back. The amber is pierced
between the feet. Height, 2±- in. Nola.
No. 55. Same type; pierced. Height, 2 in. Nola.
No. 56. Same type; pierced. Height, 2§ in. Nola.
No. 57. Same type ; pierced. Height, 2^ in. Nola.
No. 58. Same type, slightly varied in the drapery ;
pierced below the drapery with two holes. Height, 2f in.
Nola.
No. 59. Mask of bearded Dion}^sos. His head is bound
with a long sash fastened in a loop in front of the right
ear; the beard is arranged in long parallel ringlets,
tapering to a point; the left car, unnaturally forward, is
close to the left eye. The features are very rudely ren-
dered; the ignorance in the execution shows that this
amber has been copied by a barbarian hand from some
mask of Dionysos of a good period. Pierced for suspension.
The amber is very dark in colour. Height, 2f in.
No. 60. Pendant in form of half-boar couching. The
modelling very flat; the muscles on the shoulder represented
by conventional incised curves. Pierced for suspension
behind the shoulder. Length, 2|- in.
No. 61. Vase with handles formed by two panthers ; on
the sides of the vase are tendrils of vine and leaves in relief.
Height, 3h in. Nos. 60, 61, presented by A. W. Franks, Esq.
On the use of amber by the ancients, see Helbig,
Osservaz. sopra il Commercio dell' Ambra (E. Accademia
dei Lincei, Pome, 1876-7).
No. 53. Swan, brooding on her nest with wings spread;
from under her left wing a boy emerges, and on the right
of her other wing is another boy, who appears to be winged,
and who is carrying some object, perhaps a vase; the
swan's head is turned towards this boj". This beautiful
composition is carved in relief on the cover of a pyxis ; the
plumage of the swan is wrought with extreme delicacy.
The subject has been thought to refer to Leda and the
Dioskuri ; but if one of the boys is winged, as would seem
to be the case, they are both probably Cupids or Genii.
Diam. 3 in. Nola.
No. 54. Comic actor, enveloped in a mantle which falls
to the feet, and in which both hands are muffled. Pie is
bald, with projecting ears, the head inclining towards the
left shoulder. The right arm is crossed over the breast;
the end of the mantle is cast over the left shoulder, falling
in a vertical fold down the back. The amber is pierced
between the feet. Height, 2±- in. Nola.
No. 55. Same type; pierced. Height, 2 in. Nola.
No. 56. Same type; pierced. Height, 2§ in. Nola.
No. 57. Same type ; pierced. Height, 2^ in. Nola.
No. 58. Same type, slightly varied in the drapery ;
pierced below the drapery with two holes. Height, 2f in.
Nola.
No. 59. Mask of bearded Dion}^sos. His head is bound
with a long sash fastened in a loop in front of the right
ear; the beard is arranged in long parallel ringlets,
tapering to a point; the left car, unnaturally forward, is
close to the left eye. The features are very rudely ren-
dered; the ignorance in the execution shows that this
amber has been copied by a barbarian hand from some
mask of Dionysos of a good period. Pierced for suspension.
The amber is very dark in colour. Height, 2f in.
No. 60. Pendant in form of half-boar couching. The
modelling very flat; the muscles on the shoulder represented
by conventional incised curves. Pierced for suspension
behind the shoulder. Length, 2|- in.
No. 61. Vase with handles formed by two panthers ; on
the sides of the vase are tendrils of vine and leaves in relief.
Height, 3h in. Nos. 60, 61, presented by A. W. Franks, Esq.
On the use of amber by the ancients, see Helbig,
Osservaz. sopra il Commercio dell' Ambra (E. Accademia
dei Lincei, Pome, 1876-7).