DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0299
M. M. II: LOOM-WEIGHT DEPOSIT (CERAMIC PHASE /;) 265
sprays which it repeats, a feature shared by typical polychrome vessels of the
M. MAI 6 phase.
This vase has a special importance in the strong suggestion that Com-
it affords as to the dependence of such naturalistic floral designs of the withWall-
pottery of this epoch on contemporary wall-paintings. The curved outlines Pamtmg.
from which the plants spring are themselves taken over from the irregular
foreground of rocks and hillocks that characterize Minoan landscape pieces.
It will be seen at once that both in its subject and in the delineation of
the flowers themselves this vessel affords a new standpoint for comparison Saffron-
with the earliest of the Knossian wall-paintings that survives in anything like on^Vase
a complete form—that, namely, representing the Saffron-gatherer.1 com"
pell £ CI
The subject of this fresco (Plate IV),2 a youthful figure, naked except for with
a girdle, gathering saffron-flowers, and setting them into bowls in a rocky field, Fresco-
has probably a religious association. The saffron crocus, like the lily, was ' The
a special attribute of the Great Minoan Goddess, who may have been held to gatherer
preside over what, as we know from the evidence of a series of clay tablets, Fresco-
must have been a flourishing Cretan industry. The saffron gardens of Crete
have existed indeed down to modern times, and a record of others is preserved
in local names. The figure itself with its grey blue body colour differs from
the convention observed by the later school of Minoan wall-painting. It
seems nearer to the female convention as regards its hue than the deep
Venetian red that marks male figures, and it is possible, therefore, that it
indicates a young girl rather than a boy. Certain details of the design
such as the festoons of white dots are in sympathy with the ceramic Agree-
decoration of the First Middle Minoan Period. The bowls here represented ,ment
1 between
show a black ground with white spots and a band of red and belong to the Fresco
polychrome class, while the rocks with their alternate veins of black and ^0 II
vermilion red and their white outline recall certain ceramic imitations of Ceramic
Decora-
breccia of the early part of the Middle Minoan Age. Altogether, both the tion.
1 The fragment of the Saffron-gatherer of Middle Minoan date. There was a well-
fresco was found on a floor level about the marked M. M. II stratum throughout this area,
centre of the area originally included in the The fresco probably belonged to a Hall of that
Early Keep. See Knossos, Report, 1900 Period on the upper floor.
(I>. S. A., vi)s p. 45, where its ' Kamares' 2 Plate IV is based on the restored drawing
character was already noted. It was later, of the fresco fragments by M. Gillieron. The
therefore, than the early part of M. M. I. head and outstretched arm are his restora-
Otherwise its provenance supplies some sug- tions. The group of crocus-flowers in the
gestion as to its chronological position. A large upper right-hand corner belongs apparently to
black steatite bowl found on the outskirts of a companion panel of this wall-painting, though
this area has an archaic aspect and is probably it is here included with the other fragments.
sprays which it repeats, a feature shared by typical polychrome vessels of the
M. MAI 6 phase.
This vase has a special importance in the strong suggestion that Com-
it affords as to the dependence of such naturalistic floral designs of the withWall-
pottery of this epoch on contemporary wall-paintings. The curved outlines Pamtmg.
from which the plants spring are themselves taken over from the irregular
foreground of rocks and hillocks that characterize Minoan landscape pieces.
It will be seen at once that both in its subject and in the delineation of
the flowers themselves this vessel affords a new standpoint for comparison Saffron-
with the earliest of the Knossian wall-paintings that survives in anything like on^Vase
a complete form—that, namely, representing the Saffron-gatherer.1 com"
pell £ CI
The subject of this fresco (Plate IV),2 a youthful figure, naked except for with
a girdle, gathering saffron-flowers, and setting them into bowls in a rocky field, Fresco-
has probably a religious association. The saffron crocus, like the lily, was ' The
a special attribute of the Great Minoan Goddess, who may have been held to gatherer
preside over what, as we know from the evidence of a series of clay tablets, Fresco-
must have been a flourishing Cretan industry. The saffron gardens of Crete
have existed indeed down to modern times, and a record of others is preserved
in local names. The figure itself with its grey blue body colour differs from
the convention observed by the later school of Minoan wall-painting. It
seems nearer to the female convention as regards its hue than the deep
Venetian red that marks male figures, and it is possible, therefore, that it
indicates a young girl rather than a boy. Certain details of the design
such as the festoons of white dots are in sympathy with the ceramic Agree-
decoration of the First Middle Minoan Period. The bowls here represented ,ment
1 between
show a black ground with white spots and a band of red and belong to the Fresco
polychrome class, while the rocks with their alternate veins of black and ^0 II
vermilion red and their white outline recall certain ceramic imitations of Ceramic
Decora-
breccia of the early part of the Middle Minoan Age. Altogether, both the tion.
1 The fragment of the Saffron-gatherer of Middle Minoan date. There was a well-
fresco was found on a floor level about the marked M. M. II stratum throughout this area,
centre of the area originally included in the The fresco probably belonged to a Hall of that
Early Keep. See Knossos, Report, 1900 Period on the upper floor.
(I>. S. A., vi)s p. 45, where its ' Kamares' 2 Plate IV is based on the restored drawing
character was already noted. It was later, of the fresco fragments by M. Gillieron. The
therefore, than the early part of M. M. I. head and outstretched arm are his restora-
Otherwise its provenance supplies some sug- tions. The group of crocus-flowers in the
gestion as to its chronological position. A large upper right-hand corner belongs apparently to
black steatite bowl found on the outskirts of a companion panel of this wall-painting, though
this area has an archaic aspect and is probably it is here included with the other fragments.