DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.808#0012
10
ARTHUR EVANS
Fig. 10.—Large Sig-
net-ring. (J)
somewhat greater than those of the large signet from Mycenae (34 x 25 mm.).
They cannot, however, compare with those of the great signet-ring from the
Tiryns ' Treasure,' which amount to 56 mm. in width by 33 in height. The
hoop is somewhat bent but its average inner diameter is about 20-5 mm.,
which represents full man's size. It presents a great contrast to the succeed-
ing example, No. 5, which was clearly made for a woman's finger. The
surface of the bezel, though it cannot be described as worn, bears evidence of
considerable use.
The group of the lion seizing a stag on this ring combines great strength
with extraordinary finesse, the lines of hair, for instance, on the animals'
flanks being quite microscopically rendered. The com-
position itself is admirable and the exact adaptation of
the design to the oval space of the ring shows consum-
mate skill. This close conformation of the figures on
intaglio to the field at the engraver's disposal is itself a
mark of a somewhat advanced glyptic stage, and is
already a characteristic of gems belonging to the closing
L.M. I. phase, as illustrated by examples from the
Vapheio tomb.18* The style is, in fact, appreciably later
than that of the three preceding bead-seals of the
' flattened cylinder' type, Nos. 1-3. We notice indeed
a distinct advance on the somewhat stiff rendering of the
analogous subject depicting a lion seizing a bull, seen on No. 3.
In this case the lion has seized the shoulder of the stag and at the same
time has gripped one of the haunches with his near hind-leg. The tongue of
the unfortunate stag protrudes from his mouth. The antlers are somewhat
sketchily rendered, but the palmation that is visible sufficiently shows that
we have here to deal with a fallow deer (Cervus dama), which is almost the
only kind of deer shown on Minoan or Mycenaean intaglios,19—in itself a
significant circumstance, since this species is confined to Crete and to the
south-easternmost Aegean islands. There is, indeed, no evidence of it having
existed in a wild state at any period in Mainland Greece, where the typical stag
has always been the red deer (Cervus elaphus). This, however, does not mean
more than that the Mycenaean art type was taken over from Minoan Crete,
and it is quite possible and indeed, from its associations, probable, that this
signet-ring was the work of a Minoan artist working in Mainland Greece. The
stags of the Tiryns fresco,20 certainly executed on the spot, with their
cruciform dapples and palmated horns, are clearly fallow deer.
13a Good examples relating to animals
may be seen in Vapheio gems, 'E^.'Apx- 1889,
PI. X. 4, 14, and 21.
19 Furtwangler, Antike Gemmen, iii. 52,
n. 1, refers to a Mycenaean gem in the
Bourguignon Collection with two red deer
lying side by side. O. Keller, moreover,
Tier und Pflanzenbilder, etc., p. 108 (cf.
PL XVII. 18), in reproducing the stag on
the amethyst intaglio from the Third
Shaft Grave at Mycenae (mis-referred to
as jasper), describes it as a red deer. Its
dappled flanks, nevertheless, are clear and
its horns seem to be palmated. Furt-
wangler, A.G. ii. 11, rightly describes it
as a ' spotted fallow-deer' (' gefleckter
Damhirsch ').
!° Kodenwaldt, Tiryns, ii. Pis. XV.,
XVI., Figs. 60, 61, 62, and p. 140 seqq., and
compare his note (i. p. 151) on the stag
types of Minoan and Mycenaean gems.
ARTHUR EVANS
Fig. 10.—Large Sig-
net-ring. (J)
somewhat greater than those of the large signet from Mycenae (34 x 25 mm.).
They cannot, however, compare with those of the great signet-ring from the
Tiryns ' Treasure,' which amount to 56 mm. in width by 33 in height. The
hoop is somewhat bent but its average inner diameter is about 20-5 mm.,
which represents full man's size. It presents a great contrast to the succeed-
ing example, No. 5, which was clearly made for a woman's finger. The
surface of the bezel, though it cannot be described as worn, bears evidence of
considerable use.
The group of the lion seizing a stag on this ring combines great strength
with extraordinary finesse, the lines of hair, for instance, on the animals'
flanks being quite microscopically rendered. The com-
position itself is admirable and the exact adaptation of
the design to the oval space of the ring shows consum-
mate skill. This close conformation of the figures on
intaglio to the field at the engraver's disposal is itself a
mark of a somewhat advanced glyptic stage, and is
already a characteristic of gems belonging to the closing
L.M. I. phase, as illustrated by examples from the
Vapheio tomb.18* The style is, in fact, appreciably later
than that of the three preceding bead-seals of the
' flattened cylinder' type, Nos. 1-3. We notice indeed
a distinct advance on the somewhat stiff rendering of the
analogous subject depicting a lion seizing a bull, seen on No. 3.
In this case the lion has seized the shoulder of the stag and at the same
time has gripped one of the haunches with his near hind-leg. The tongue of
the unfortunate stag protrudes from his mouth. The antlers are somewhat
sketchily rendered, but the palmation that is visible sufficiently shows that
we have here to deal with a fallow deer (Cervus dama), which is almost the
only kind of deer shown on Minoan or Mycenaean intaglios,19—in itself a
significant circumstance, since this species is confined to Crete and to the
south-easternmost Aegean islands. There is, indeed, no evidence of it having
existed in a wild state at any period in Mainland Greece, where the typical stag
has always been the red deer (Cervus elaphus). This, however, does not mean
more than that the Mycenaean art type was taken over from Minoan Crete,
and it is quite possible and indeed, from its associations, probable, that this
signet-ring was the work of a Minoan artist working in Mainland Greece. The
stags of the Tiryns fresco,20 certainly executed on the spot, with their
cruciform dapples and palmated horns, are clearly fallow deer.
13a Good examples relating to animals
may be seen in Vapheio gems, 'E^.'Apx- 1889,
PI. X. 4, 14, and 21.
19 Furtwangler, Antike Gemmen, iii. 52,
n. 1, refers to a Mycenaean gem in the
Bourguignon Collection with two red deer
lying side by side. O. Keller, moreover,
Tier und Pflanzenbilder, etc., p. 108 (cf.
PL XVII. 18), in reproducing the stag on
the amethyst intaglio from the Third
Shaft Grave at Mycenae (mis-referred to
as jasper), describes it as a red deer. Its
dappled flanks, nevertheless, are clear and
its horns seem to be palmated. Furt-
wangler, A.G. ii. 11, rightly describes it
as a ' spotted fallow-deer' (' gefleckter
Damhirsch ').
!° Kodenwaldt, Tiryns, ii. Pis. XV.,
XVI., Figs. 60, 61, 62, and p. 140 seqq., and
compare his note (i. p. 151) on the stag
types of Minoan and Mycenaean gems.