DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0638
594
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Poly-
chrome
' Rhyton '
ofOstrich-
Egg type-
Ostrich-
Egg Rhy-
ton from
My-
cenae.
Decora-
tive palm-
trees—
tradi-
tional ele ■
ments.
Influence
of graffito
tech-
nique.
foliated ornamentation in white on a reddish-brown glaze ground appears
amongf the later ceramic remains of the Kamares Cave.1
Some remarkable fragments of a vessel, restored in Fig. 436, c, which
came to light in a M. M. Ill stratum of the ' Ka<t>evtioi>' rubbish-heap S.E. of
the site introduce us to a more distinctive style of polychromy. We have
here a Minoan ' rhyton ' or libation vessel representing a clay copy of a type
the body of which was formed by an ostrich egg. Actual remains of such
a rhyton (Fig. 436, b 2), which hitherto have escaped recognition, were found
in the IVth Shaft Grave at Mycenae, the mouthpiece being composed of
Knossian faience, and a perforated gold plate applied to the lower end of the
egg-shell. Fragmentary evidence has indeed been already noted 3 which
shows that ceramic imitations of such ostrich-egg rhytons were already-
executed in the developed M. M. II polychrome style (see Fig. 436 a).
From the rough finish of the orifice it would appear that in the case of
the present example a mouthpiece of precious metal had been fitted to it.
The painted designs themselves are full of minute decorative details but the
whole reflects palatial models. The three palm-trees depicted on the circum-
ference of the vase recall the triple groups on the fine M. M. II jar from the
Loom-Weight Basement illustrated above4 and in this case too the
inflorescence of the palms is shown. The sloping position here adopted is
in accordance with a device that goes back to the beginning of the Middle
Minoan Age to give the full development of plant forms within a compara-
tively low field. The cable decoration as applied to their trunks recalls
a parallel device on a fine M. M. II b jar from Phaestos illustrated above 5
and the ' knobbed' sprays introduced into the field are familiar ceramic
appendages from M. M. I onwards. As a motive for an ostrich-egg type of
vessel the palm-trees are specially appropriate and the incised lines with
which they are emphasized—a quite exceptional technique on Minoan painted
pottery—may well have been taken over from the engraved decoration natural
1 Dawkins, B. S. A., xix, PL XII (above) and
P- 23-
2 Part of the faience mouthpiece of this
vessel (found in the IVth Shaft Grave) was
published by Schliemann {Mycenae, p. 256,
Fig. 375) as 'a fragment of an alabaster vase '.
Its connexion with the ostrich eggs of the
tombs was first brought out by Dr. Stais—in
itself a great step in advance. He regarded,
however, what is really the mouthpiece as the
pedestal of a cup and the gold -plate at the base
as a cover {Collection Mycenienne, 1915, p. 71,
No. 828). He connected these fittings with
the egg from Tomb V showing applied faience
dolphins, but in Dr. Karo's view they belonged
to one of the plain ostrich eggs from Tomb IV.
It had, in fact, a central perforation. A fuller
account of the evolution of Minoan rhyton-
types of this class is reserved for Vol. II.
3 See above, p. 254, Fig. 190, and cf. Vol. IL
4 See above, p. 260, Fig. 193.
5 P. 260, Fig. 193.
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
Poly-
chrome
' Rhyton '
ofOstrich-
Egg type-
Ostrich-
Egg Rhy-
ton from
My-
cenae.
Decora-
tive palm-
trees—
tradi-
tional ele ■
ments.
Influence
of graffito
tech-
nique.
foliated ornamentation in white on a reddish-brown glaze ground appears
amongf the later ceramic remains of the Kamares Cave.1
Some remarkable fragments of a vessel, restored in Fig. 436, c, which
came to light in a M. M. Ill stratum of the ' Ka<t>evtioi>' rubbish-heap S.E. of
the site introduce us to a more distinctive style of polychromy. We have
here a Minoan ' rhyton ' or libation vessel representing a clay copy of a type
the body of which was formed by an ostrich egg. Actual remains of such
a rhyton (Fig. 436, b 2), which hitherto have escaped recognition, were found
in the IVth Shaft Grave at Mycenae, the mouthpiece being composed of
Knossian faience, and a perforated gold plate applied to the lower end of the
egg-shell. Fragmentary evidence has indeed been already noted 3 which
shows that ceramic imitations of such ostrich-egg rhytons were already-
executed in the developed M. M. II polychrome style (see Fig. 436 a).
From the rough finish of the orifice it would appear that in the case of
the present example a mouthpiece of precious metal had been fitted to it.
The painted designs themselves are full of minute decorative details but the
whole reflects palatial models. The three palm-trees depicted on the circum-
ference of the vase recall the triple groups on the fine M. M. II jar from the
Loom-Weight Basement illustrated above4 and in this case too the
inflorescence of the palms is shown. The sloping position here adopted is
in accordance with a device that goes back to the beginning of the Middle
Minoan Age to give the full development of plant forms within a compara-
tively low field. The cable decoration as applied to their trunks recalls
a parallel device on a fine M. M. II b jar from Phaestos illustrated above 5
and the ' knobbed' sprays introduced into the field are familiar ceramic
appendages from M. M. I onwards. As a motive for an ostrich-egg type of
vessel the palm-trees are specially appropriate and the incised lines with
which they are emphasized—a quite exceptional technique on Minoan painted
pottery—may well have been taken over from the engraved decoration natural
1 Dawkins, B. S. A., xix, PL XII (above) and
P- 23-
2 Part of the faience mouthpiece of this
vessel (found in the IVth Shaft Grave) was
published by Schliemann {Mycenae, p. 256,
Fig. 375) as 'a fragment of an alabaster vase '.
Its connexion with the ostrich eggs of the
tombs was first brought out by Dr. Stais—in
itself a great step in advance. He regarded,
however, what is really the mouthpiece as the
pedestal of a cup and the gold -plate at the base
as a cover {Collection Mycenienne, 1915, p. 71,
No. 828). He connected these fittings with
the egg from Tomb V showing applied faience
dolphins, but in Dr. Karo's view they belonged
to one of the plain ostrich eggs from Tomb IV.
It had, in fact, a central perforation. A fuller
account of the evolution of Minoan rhyton-
types of this class is reserved for Vol. II.
3 See above, p. 254, Fig. 190, and cf. Vol. IL
4 See above, p. 260, Fig. 193.
5 P. 260, Fig. 193.