DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0584
93o ARTISTIC RELICS FOUND WITH TREASURE
like the others, had doubtless been overlaid on the bright blue kyanos
at times on silver plates such as were used in a similar manner.
Crystnl To what purpose disks like/, bossed on both sides, had been apnl' I
H"6 is not so certain, but certain carinated bosses (/) may well have adorn I
'ba?k,J the surface of caskets made to contain other precious possessions Tl
painting remarkable crystal plaque here found (rf), with the miniature figure of the
ingbulf charging bull painted in bright colours on its lower surface,1 may have been
part of the decoration of such a casket. The fragment e also bore traces
of similar coloured ' back-work '.
Other crystal objects evidently belonged to the class of personal
ornaments, such as the large crystal bead, /;, and the parts of armlets,
I, it, v, r, some ridged. The crescent-shaped jewel, a, may well have been
mounted as the pendant of a necklace.
In addition to these choice crystal relics—including the finest work of
the Minoan miniaturist's Art that has come down to us—this same deposit
produced what is certainly the most naturalistically beautiful small relief
brought to light, either in the Palace or in any other contemporary site.
'Rhyton' This is the fragment already illustrated of a grey steatite ' rhyton ' of the
reliefwiih jyr ]\| jjj ostrich-ego- type—with the relief of the 'ambushed octopus'.2
'am- && J1 i
bushed There can be little doubt that, as in other similar cases, the relief had been
' covered with thin gold plating. Most of the gold, however, associated
with the objects belonging to this hoard that was found in and about the
' Lustral Basin' had evidently been picked out by treasure-seekers, for whom
it was an easy place lo ransack. But, inside the small wall cavity opposite,
described below as containing outlying remains from the same rich deposit,
a good deal of gold leaf occurred with the other choice fragments. Some
was also found on the altar slab of the niche of the adjoining Inner Shrine,
together with a silver armlet, both probably belonging to the same rich hoard
of the Upper ' Loggia'.
The little crystal bowl restored in Fig. 901, a, b, recalls that found,
together with the small pyxis cover, in the 'Ivory Deposit' and derived
from the Treasury Room of the Domestic Ouai'ter.3 It is clear that
1 P. of lV., iii, Coloured Plate XIX: opp. to imitate the fine vetoing of some agate-lite
P- 109. stone (Kara, Sduuhlgrakr, PL LXXVIII,
- P. ofM., ii, p. 227, Pig. 130, and ii, Pt. II, where it is first adequately reproduced Iron'
p. 503, Fig. 227. A crystal knob from the Gillieron's drawing). Dr. Kara (Text, p. 2S4)
Third Shaft Grave at Mycenae shows a simi- rightly regards this object as of Cretan i«>
tor painted technique on its hollowed out portation.
under side, apparently in that case intended 3 See lb., vol.iii, p. 410,log- 272rt/',and'''''
like the others, had doubtless been overlaid on the bright blue kyanos
at times on silver plates such as were used in a similar manner.
Crystnl To what purpose disks like/, bossed on both sides, had been apnl' I
H"6 is not so certain, but certain carinated bosses (/) may well have adorn I
'ba?k,J the surface of caskets made to contain other precious possessions Tl
painting remarkable crystal plaque here found (rf), with the miniature figure of the
ingbulf charging bull painted in bright colours on its lower surface,1 may have been
part of the decoration of such a casket. The fragment e also bore traces
of similar coloured ' back-work '.
Other crystal objects evidently belonged to the class of personal
ornaments, such as the large crystal bead, /;, and the parts of armlets,
I, it, v, r, some ridged. The crescent-shaped jewel, a, may well have been
mounted as the pendant of a necklace.
In addition to these choice crystal relics—including the finest work of
the Minoan miniaturist's Art that has come down to us—this same deposit
produced what is certainly the most naturalistically beautiful small relief
brought to light, either in the Palace or in any other contemporary site.
'Rhyton' This is the fragment already illustrated of a grey steatite ' rhyton ' of the
reliefwiih jyr ]\| jjj ostrich-ego- type—with the relief of the 'ambushed octopus'.2
'am- && J1 i
bushed There can be little doubt that, as in other similar cases, the relief had been
' covered with thin gold plating. Most of the gold, however, associated
with the objects belonging to this hoard that was found in and about the
' Lustral Basin' had evidently been picked out by treasure-seekers, for whom
it was an easy place lo ransack. But, inside the small wall cavity opposite,
described below as containing outlying remains from the same rich deposit,
a good deal of gold leaf occurred with the other choice fragments. Some
was also found on the altar slab of the niche of the adjoining Inner Shrine,
together with a silver armlet, both probably belonging to the same rich hoard
of the Upper ' Loggia'.
The little crystal bowl restored in Fig. 901, a, b, recalls that found,
together with the small pyxis cover, in the 'Ivory Deposit' and derived
from the Treasury Room of the Domestic Ouai'ter.3 It is clear that
1 P. of lV., iii, Coloured Plate XIX: opp. to imitate the fine vetoing of some agate-lite
P- 109. stone (Kara, Sduuhlgrakr, PL LXXVIII,
- P. ofM., ii, p. 227, Pig. 130, and ii, Pt. II, where it is first adequately reproduced Iron'
p. 503, Fig. 227. A crystal knob from the Gillieron's drawing). Dr. Kara (Text, p. 2S4)
Third Shaft Grave at Mycenae shows a simi- rightly regards this object as of Cretan i«>
tor painted technique on its hollowed out portation.
under side, apparently in that case intended 3 See lb., vol.iii, p. 410,log- 272rt/',and'''''