Evans, Arthur: The ‘Tomb of the Double Axes’ and associated group, and the pillar rooms and ritual vessels of the ‘Little Palace’ at Knossos’ (London, 1914)

AND ASSOCIATED GROUP AT KNOSSOS

29

The basis of the painted decoration in these cases seems to have been a
thin coating of plaster, the process thus bearing" a distinct resemblance to the fresco
decoration of the Palace walls. As in the latter case, the white body consists of
practically pure carbonate of lime, and the red is the same pigment as that used
in the wall paintings. As Mr. Heaton justly observes, 'such a thin coating of
plaster would not be calculated to resist prolonged burial well, and it has been
dissolved away to a considerable degree by continual exposure to moist soil'.

Fig. 39, a. Painted clay braziers from Hagia Triada. Fig. 39, b.

The process employed in the case of the polychrome vessels from Isopata
is not so clear, but the parallelism in form and colouring presented by the Hagia
Triada examples is itself a highly suggestive phenomenon. With regard to the
black coating" visible on the 'alabastra' and jug, Mr. Heaton observes that 'there
is a distinct departure from the ordinary technique on such vases', though the
black proves to be a glaze somewhat similar in character to that ordinarily used.1

1 Mr. Heaton observes with regard to an idea that had suggested itself in relation to this black
coating, 'there is no indication of after decoration with bituminous or other materials to produce the
black'.