DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8755#0075
64
A. J. Evans
series1 used by the Cretan inlayers in bone and ivory, which seem to
have been, in part at least, literally taken over from the current stock of
similar signs in use among Egyptian intarsia workers and jewellers from
the earlier Dynastic Period onwards.
The vitreous glaze with which this Minoan faience is enamelled
appears to be of the same largely siliceous composition as is that
of the ' Egyptian porcelain.'2 The prevailing ground colour of this
vitreous facing is usually a pale greenish or bluish-white, sometimes giving
place to a pure white, sometimes taking a yellow or a lilac tinge.
Occasionally the tone is deeper, such as an emerald-green, or more rarely a
turquoise blue. The designs on this field are laid on in a purplish-brown
or brown deepening into black—more rarely in a pure lilac colour.
Exceptionally, the ground colour itself is brown.
The ' body ' of this ware consists of a light porous paste of a white or
yellowish-white hue mostly formed of a quartzite sand.:i It would even
appear that some curious and not easily explained objects found in the
same deposit with the finished faience articles may possibly represent the
form in which the raw material of their interior paste was conveyed to the
place of fabric. These objects are thick, more or less cylindrical cakes,
with a shallow, cupped depression above.4 Of the local manufacture of
the faience fabrics, a curious indication is moreover supplied by a steatite
mould discovered in the North-West dependance of the Palace. The
1 The notches, strokes, or dots of varying numbers which either accompany these signs or
appear in place of them evidently refer to the arrangement of the inlays. Here again Egyptian
analogy is conclusive—witness the slanting lines, from one to nine in number, incised on the lower
surface of the gold and turquoise hawks from bracelets found in the tomb of King Zer at Abydos—
to mark their order in the series (Petrie, Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, II. 15).
2 Professor A. H. Church has kindly examined some specimens of this Palace faience. He
writes ' besides silica the glaze contained lime, a little magnesia, some soda, and a larger amount of
potash. The friable and rather porous 'body' or paste of this glazed material contains (in the
state in which it was analysed),—{a) moisture and other matters—1"22 p.c. ; (/<) matters soluble in
strong hydrochloric acid—2'22 p.c. ; (<) quartzite sand with traces of mica, felspar, and clay—
96'56 p.c. ( = 100). (i) consists chiefly of lime and the oxides of iron, alumina, and copper.
(c) consists of 97 'OI p.c. of silica, 133 p.c. of alumina, and 0^17 p.c. of lime, with traces of lime,
magnesia, copper, and alkalies. The paste when dry has received a coating of glaze, and has been
fixed at a moderate heat, just sufficient to fuse the latter without softening the body.' Professor
Church considers that the glaze owes its colouring mainly to copper and that it is probably nearly
related to ' Egyptian Blue.' The dark browns and black however are referred by him to a ferru-
ginous origin.
3 In the case of other plaques such as those of the latest Palace Period found in the Throne
Room it is of a brown colour.
4 Some of these were shown in Fig. 20 above, below the Libation Tables.
A. J. Evans
series1 used by the Cretan inlayers in bone and ivory, which seem to
have been, in part at least, literally taken over from the current stock of
similar signs in use among Egyptian intarsia workers and jewellers from
the earlier Dynastic Period onwards.
The vitreous glaze with which this Minoan faience is enamelled
appears to be of the same largely siliceous composition as is that
of the ' Egyptian porcelain.'2 The prevailing ground colour of this
vitreous facing is usually a pale greenish or bluish-white, sometimes giving
place to a pure white, sometimes taking a yellow or a lilac tinge.
Occasionally the tone is deeper, such as an emerald-green, or more rarely a
turquoise blue. The designs on this field are laid on in a purplish-brown
or brown deepening into black—more rarely in a pure lilac colour.
Exceptionally, the ground colour itself is brown.
The ' body ' of this ware consists of a light porous paste of a white or
yellowish-white hue mostly formed of a quartzite sand.:i It would even
appear that some curious and not easily explained objects found in the
same deposit with the finished faience articles may possibly represent the
form in which the raw material of their interior paste was conveyed to the
place of fabric. These objects are thick, more or less cylindrical cakes,
with a shallow, cupped depression above.4 Of the local manufacture of
the faience fabrics, a curious indication is moreover supplied by a steatite
mould discovered in the North-West dependance of the Palace. The
1 The notches, strokes, or dots of varying numbers which either accompany these signs or
appear in place of them evidently refer to the arrangement of the inlays. Here again Egyptian
analogy is conclusive—witness the slanting lines, from one to nine in number, incised on the lower
surface of the gold and turquoise hawks from bracelets found in the tomb of King Zer at Abydos—
to mark their order in the series (Petrie, Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, II. 15).
2 Professor A. H. Church has kindly examined some specimens of this Palace faience. He
writes ' besides silica the glaze contained lime, a little magnesia, some soda, and a larger amount of
potash. The friable and rather porous 'body' or paste of this glazed material contains (in the
state in which it was analysed),—{a) moisture and other matters—1"22 p.c. ; (/<) matters soluble in
strong hydrochloric acid—2'22 p.c. ; (<) quartzite sand with traces of mica, felspar, and clay—
96'56 p.c. ( = 100). (i) consists chiefly of lime and the oxides of iron, alumina, and copper.
(c) consists of 97 'OI p.c. of silica, 133 p.c. of alumina, and 0^17 p.c. of lime, with traces of lime,
magnesia, copper, and alkalies. The paste when dry has received a coating of glaze, and has been
fixed at a moderate heat, just sufficient to fuse the latter without softening the body.' Professor
Church considers that the glaze owes its colouring mainly to copper and that it is probably nearly
related to ' Egyptian Blue.' The dark browns and black however are referred by him to a ferru-
ginous origin.
3 In the case of other plaques such as those of the latest Palace Period found in the Throne
Room it is of a brown colour.
4 Some of these were shown in Fig. 20 above, below the Libation Tables.