DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.34678#0008
8
TRANSACTIONS^ DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY; U. OF P.
incision, puncturation and in some cases, it seems, by paint. It is of the
simplest linear-geometric character.
EARLY MlNOAN II.
In the second division of the early period, the same sort of primitive
technique prevailed. The practice of incision continued, and there was also
in use, especially at Vasiliki/ in the eastern Ond of the island, a method of
decoration which consisted in firing the vase in such a way as to produce a
brilliantly mottled red and black surface. The perfecting of this and of other
processes of surface treatment inherited from neolithic epochs were throughout
this period the potter's chief concern. A lustrous surface on a vase is obviously
advantageous for practical reasons, and for aesthetic reasons also, it was
probably preferred at first to painted decoration. For a polished lustrous
surface affords of itself a kind of aesthetic pleasure and when, as at Vasiliki,
there is the added pleasure afforded by the contrast of red and black patches
of color, it is easy to see how such decoration would compete successfully
with painted patterns which appeal to the instinct for rhythm and har-
mony of line. A typical ornament of this period is given in Fig. 5. The
Fig. 5, from Prawsac^oTn I, Part III, PI. XXV, G. V a.
boldness with which this pattern is applied to the vase shows a marked
advance in decorative sense, though the design itself is shown by Mr. Evans ^
to have been derived directly from the incised decoration of earlier periods.
EARLY MlNOAN III.
In the third division of the early period a larger proportion of vases is
painted.s The prevailing color of the paint is white on a slightly lustrous
* See table, opp. p. 50.
'B.&A. 1902-3, IX, p. 98.
s The presence of incised vases in strata of this period is attributed by Mr. Evans (B. 8.
T. 1903-4, Vol. X, p. 23) to Cycfadic influence. Simple incised geometric ornaments con-
tinued on stone vases throughout later periods. See, e. g., Tfo%. y!?h. 1905, XIV, Part 2,
cols. 473-474, Figs. 79 and 81, from the earlier palace (Middle Minoan II) of Phaistos.
TRANSACTIONS^ DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY; U. OF P.
incision, puncturation and in some cases, it seems, by paint. It is of the
simplest linear-geometric character.
EARLY MlNOAN II.
In the second division of the early period, the same sort of primitive
technique prevailed. The practice of incision continued, and there was also
in use, especially at Vasiliki/ in the eastern Ond of the island, a method of
decoration which consisted in firing the vase in such a way as to produce a
brilliantly mottled red and black surface. The perfecting of this and of other
processes of surface treatment inherited from neolithic epochs were throughout
this period the potter's chief concern. A lustrous surface on a vase is obviously
advantageous for practical reasons, and for aesthetic reasons also, it was
probably preferred at first to painted decoration. For a polished lustrous
surface affords of itself a kind of aesthetic pleasure and when, as at Vasiliki,
there is the added pleasure afforded by the contrast of red and black patches
of color, it is easy to see how such decoration would compete successfully
with painted patterns which appeal to the instinct for rhythm and har-
mony of line. A typical ornament of this period is given in Fig. 5. The
Fig. 5, from Prawsac^oTn I, Part III, PI. XXV, G. V a.
boldness with which this pattern is applied to the vase shows a marked
advance in decorative sense, though the design itself is shown by Mr. Evans ^
to have been derived directly from the incised decoration of earlier periods.
EARLY MlNOAN III.
In the third division of the early period a larger proportion of vases is
painted.s The prevailing color of the paint is white on a slightly lustrous
* See table, opp. p. 50.
'B.&A. 1902-3, IX, p. 98.
s The presence of incised vases in strata of this period is attributed by Mr. Evans (B. 8.
T. 1903-4, Vol. X, p. 23) to Cycfadic influence. Simple incised geometric ornaments con-
tinued on stone vases throughout later periods. See, e. g., Tfo%. y!?h. 1905, XIV, Part 2,
cols. 473-474, Figs. 79 and 81, from the earlier palace (Middle Minoan II) of Phaistos.