Evans, Arthur J.: The Palace of Minos: a comparative account of the successive stages of the early Cretan civilization as illustred by the discoveries at Knossos (Band 2,2): Town houses in Knossos of the new era and restored West Palace Section (London, 1928)

5o4 MARINE RELIEFS: TAKEN OVER IN REPOUSSE WORK

has been long supplied by the cup from the Third Shaft Grave exhibiting
dolphins and rocks in repousse work, recalling those of the plated intaglio,
above described, itself, if we may judge from the associated painted vase, of
L. M. la date.

Fig. 308. Relief of Dolphin swimming above Rocks on Fragment of
Steatite Vessel, Knossos.

Marine
relief on
handle of
Minoan
bronze
amphora
from
Cyprus

Probably contemporary with this and of considerable historical value
is the repousse plate of the handle of a bronze amphora from Kurion in
Cyprus.1 On it are three octopocls with tentacles incompletely shown, and
what appear to be the coiling tentacles of ' brittle-stars'2 with rocks and
seaweed round. On the bow of the handle of this vessel Minoan Genii are
associated with a central figure, based on the sacred crocodile of the
Egyptian Goddess Reret. On the rim are embossed ewers,3 such as these
Genii generally bear, and the bronze amphora itself has every appearance of
having been of ritual usage.

1 M. Markides, A Mycenaean Bronze in the
Cyprus Afuseum; U.S.A., xviii, p. 95 seqq.,
and PI. VIII. There and elsewhere the
vessel is wrongly described as a ' cauldron'.
It had S-shaped handles (for restoration see

p. 652, Fig. 417, below).

2 Ophiothrix. Representations derived from
this are frequent in vase-paintings of the
' marine style'.

s See below, p. 654 and Fig. 419.