DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.808#0025
'THE KING OF NESTOR,' ETC.
23
The Goddess on the engraved bead wears Minoan ' buskins,' and there
is a double ground-line beneath the lower part of the intaglio.
No. 9, PI. II. 5, Pig. 26. Weight 6-58 gm. Goddess holding two swans.
On this bead-seal the Goddess stands with her head turned to the right,
holding two swans by their necks. The general scheme is known and appears,
for instance, on a three-sided amethyst bead-seal from the Vapheio tomb,60
but the present intaglio far exceeds any existing example in its execution. It
contains, moreover, an additional feature of considerable religious interest.
To the right of the head of the Goddess, in the direction in which she looks,
appears a small orb, and on the other side a star, clearly indicative of the
heavenly luminaries. A noteworthy feature in the Goddess's robe is the
small apron in front above the skirt, itself an early feature, which recalls
Fig. 26.—Goddess holding Two Swans. (J)
the Snake Goddess group of the Temple Repositories at Knossos. As there,
her bosom is bare and the double circlets round her shoulders and armpits
may indicate the short sleeves of a jacket or bodice. Round her neck is a
necklace with well-defined pendants, and she wears the Minoan stockings.
Along the lower part of the field runs a border consisting of a row of dots
between incised lines, and below this again short vertical strokes. Like that of
the preceding intaglio, the engraving is of very fine quality.
The type itself is one of those earliest revived by the Greek ' Renaissance,'
where, however, a young male figure is at times substituted for the Goddess.
Such an adaptation, crossed in that case by the Nilotic motive of the ' duck-
hunter,' occurs in the case of an ' open-work ' gold jewel from the ' Aegina
Treasure ' 61 which may be regarded as representing an offshoot of early
Ionian art. This jewel is also important as the forerunner of ruder copies in old
60 'E^>. 'Apx; 1889, PI. X. 5. This form
of three-sided bead-seal is characteristic
of M.M. III., but may survive into the
early part of L.M. I. The Vapheio Tomb
itself is shown by the ceramic evidence to
be not later than L.M. I. 6. On a green
jasper from the Blacas Collection, B.M. Cat.
83, PL A (Rev. Arch., 1878, PI. XX., Fig. 3 :
Milchhoefer, Die Anjdnge der Kunst, p. 86,
Fig. 56 a), the Goddess, who seems to stand
on water, lays hold of the wings. I have
seen another example of the ordinary type
on a chalcedony lentoid from Central Crete.
61 J.H.S., xiii., 1892-1893, p. 195 seqq.
(see Fig. 3, p. 201).
23
The Goddess on the engraved bead wears Minoan ' buskins,' and there
is a double ground-line beneath the lower part of the intaglio.
No. 9, PI. II. 5, Pig. 26. Weight 6-58 gm. Goddess holding two swans.
On this bead-seal the Goddess stands with her head turned to the right,
holding two swans by their necks. The general scheme is known and appears,
for instance, on a three-sided amethyst bead-seal from the Vapheio tomb,60
but the present intaglio far exceeds any existing example in its execution. It
contains, moreover, an additional feature of considerable religious interest.
To the right of the head of the Goddess, in the direction in which she looks,
appears a small orb, and on the other side a star, clearly indicative of the
heavenly luminaries. A noteworthy feature in the Goddess's robe is the
small apron in front above the skirt, itself an early feature, which recalls
Fig. 26.—Goddess holding Two Swans. (J)
the Snake Goddess group of the Temple Repositories at Knossos. As there,
her bosom is bare and the double circlets round her shoulders and armpits
may indicate the short sleeves of a jacket or bodice. Round her neck is a
necklace with well-defined pendants, and she wears the Minoan stockings.
Along the lower part of the field runs a border consisting of a row of dots
between incised lines, and below this again short vertical strokes. Like that of
the preceding intaglio, the engraving is of very fine quality.
The type itself is one of those earliest revived by the Greek ' Renaissance,'
where, however, a young male figure is at times substituted for the Goddess.
Such an adaptation, crossed in that case by the Nilotic motive of the ' duck-
hunter,' occurs in the case of an ' open-work ' gold jewel from the ' Aegina
Treasure ' 61 which may be regarded as representing an offshoot of early
Ionian art. This jewel is also important as the forerunner of ruder copies in old
60 'E^>. 'Apx; 1889, PI. X. 5. This form
of three-sided bead-seal is characteristic
of M.M. III., but may survive into the
early part of L.M. I. The Vapheio Tomb
itself is shown by the ceramic evidence to
be not later than L.M. I. 6. On a green
jasper from the Blacas Collection, B.M. Cat.
83, PL A (Rev. Arch., 1878, PI. XX., Fig. 3 :
Milchhoefer, Die Anjdnge der Kunst, p. 86,
Fig. 56 a), the Goddess, who seems to stand
on water, lays hold of the wings. I have
seen another example of the ordinary type
on a chalcedony lentoid from Central Crete.
61 J.H.S., xiii., 1892-1893, p. 195 seqq.
(see Fig. 3, p. 201).