DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4945#0189
178 The Archaic Artemisia of Ephesus.
consider how far the question of other known classes of ivories is affected by
this result. As far as the mainland of Greece is concerned we have as yet not
much material which suggests comparison ; Perrot {Hist, de VArt. vi. p. 948)
points out that, as far as the Mycenaean Age is concerned, it is only in the later
tombs that ivory begins to appear, except in very small quantities. The
excavations at present proceeding in Sparta have produced a number of ivories
of a somewhat later date ; among them however is a seated ram, which is the
exact counterpart of our No. 25, and a seal, which on one of its four sides has
a design which is analogous to that of No. 39. It would be rash at this stage
to hazard a conjecture ; but it may be pointed out that, as the material came
from the East, and as we know that the Ionic schools were influencing the art
of the mainland in the seventh and sixth centuries i;.c. it is possible that, if not
these ivories themselves, their makers may have comft to Sparta, directly or
indirectly, by way of Ionia.
The nearer we come to the East, the more frequently we find ivory
objects; the ivories from Enkomi in Cyprus hardly offer a fair comparison
however, as, in common with most early Cypriote 'art, they exhibit for the
most part a mere local adaptation of Mesopotamia!! or Egyptian design.
In an article in the Rlmiische Alitthcilungcn, xxi. (1906), p. 328, l'oll^k
attempts to prove that certain ivory reliefs, found chiefly in Etruria, are to
be referred to a Cypriot-Ionic origin. He points to the fact that at the middle
of the sixth century B.C. (to which date these reliefs belong), Cyprus was,
politically speaking, Assyrian; and proceeds to the suggestion that such
Assyrian influence as came into the art of Ionia and Greece came in the first
place through Cyprus. It is certainly true that the Enkomi ivories show a
marked Assyrian influence working on a sub-Mycenoean tradition ; but whatever
date we assign to the Enkomi tombs, these can hardly be as late as the period
referred to ; and so far we have no evidence whatever that ivories of Ionic
style were being produced in Cyprus in the sixth century. The history of
Cypriote art shows very little, if any, trace of influence exerted by it on the art
of the mainland, even assuming that Cypriot-Ionic ivories were being pro-
duced at this date; and the very fact of Assyrian domination of the island
would surely have precluded it from trade relations with the mainland of
Greece.
The ivories of Knossos, on the other hand, belong to a period too remote
for comparison with ours. In Rhodes, however, we are nearer to Ionia ; and
the great " well " at Cameiros has yielded a series of ivories which seem to
offer a fair comparison with those under discussion. As these have never
consider how far the question of other known classes of ivories is affected by
this result. As far as the mainland of Greece is concerned we have as yet not
much material which suggests comparison ; Perrot {Hist, de VArt. vi. p. 948)
points out that, as far as the Mycenaean Age is concerned, it is only in the later
tombs that ivory begins to appear, except in very small quantities. The
excavations at present proceeding in Sparta have produced a number of ivories
of a somewhat later date ; among them however is a seated ram, which is the
exact counterpart of our No. 25, and a seal, which on one of its four sides has
a design which is analogous to that of No. 39. It would be rash at this stage
to hazard a conjecture ; but it may be pointed out that, as the material came
from the East, and as we know that the Ionic schools were influencing the art
of the mainland in the seventh and sixth centuries i;.c. it is possible that, if not
these ivories themselves, their makers may have comft to Sparta, directly or
indirectly, by way of Ionia.
The nearer we come to the East, the more frequently we find ivory
objects; the ivories from Enkomi in Cyprus hardly offer a fair comparison
however, as, in common with most early Cypriote 'art, they exhibit for the
most part a mere local adaptation of Mesopotamia!! or Egyptian design.
In an article in the Rlmiische Alitthcilungcn, xxi. (1906), p. 328, l'oll^k
attempts to prove that certain ivory reliefs, found chiefly in Etruria, are to
be referred to a Cypriot-Ionic origin. He points to the fact that at the middle
of the sixth century B.C. (to which date these reliefs belong), Cyprus was,
politically speaking, Assyrian; and proceeds to the suggestion that such
Assyrian influence as came into the art of Ionia and Greece came in the first
place through Cyprus. It is certainly true that the Enkomi ivories show a
marked Assyrian influence working on a sub-Mycenoean tradition ; but whatever
date we assign to the Enkomi tombs, these can hardly be as late as the period
referred to ; and so far we have no evidence whatever that ivories of Ionic
style were being produced in Cyprus in the sixth century. The history of
Cypriote art shows very little, if any, trace of influence exerted by it on the art
of the mainland, even assuming that Cypriot-Ionic ivories were being pro-
duced at this date; and the very fact of Assyrian domination of the island
would surely have precluded it from trade relations with the mainland of
Greece.
The ivories of Knossos, on the other hand, belong to a period too remote
for comparison with ours. In Rhodes, however, we are nearer to Ionia ; and
the great " well " at Cameiros has yielded a series of ivories which seem to
offer a fair comparison with those under discussion. As these have never