DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8577#0243
DECORATIVE METAL WORK 223
reliefs of this class have inscriptions, one of them an inscription in the Argive
alphabet;1 it was therefore suggested by Furtwangler that they were made
at Argos, and it is fairly certain that they were made, in part at least, by Argive
artists. Furtwangler, however, in a later article,2 recognized that there was
definite evidence of connexion with Corinth, and this opinion has been con-
siderably strengthened since he wrote.
A strong argument against an Argive origin in the proper sense of the word
is that the finds at the Argive Heraeum have revealed not a trace of this fabric.
The Heraeum has produced, and continues to produce, excellent bronze
work, but nothing of the 'Argive-Corinthian' class has been found there. A
fine bronze relief discovered last year (1927) has embossed and engraved
designs in a style recalling the Thermon metopes, but is of a different
fabric from the Argive-Corinthian reliefs. Several of the best-known Argive-
Corinthian reliefs are mirrors, and these are of a shape which, as Furtwangler
pointed out, must be regarded as Corinthian. The numerous Argive mirrors
from the Heraeum are analogous in form, but differ consistently in details.3
Corinth, on the other hand, has produced a number of the most important
Argive-Corinthian reliefs, and it is therefore only reasonable to regard the
Argive-Corinthian fabric as a part of the Corinthian industry, for which
Argive artists may have been to some extent responsible. The style of the
decoration is often very difficult to judge, but in certain cases it corresponds
well enough with that of Protocorinthian and Corinthian vases; many of the
reliefs, however, belong to the late archaic period, from which we have no
Corinthian vase-paintings for comparison.
As to the second question, the chronology of the Argive-Corinthian fabric,
it is in general true to say that the reliefs are dated far too early. Some,
it is true, are Protocorinthian and have been classified as such; others,
which have been spoken of as early archaic, and which, in part at any rate,
preserve the character of the quite early work, can be proved to belong to the
fifth century. In many cases the dates are hard to determine, but one thing is
certain: the makers of the later reliefs were progressive and reactionary by
turns; at one moment they would copy an elaborate figurative design, and
succeed admirably in catching the character of contemporary work; at another
1 01ympiaiv.pl. 39. Furtwangler,.Kleine Schriften
i, 410. Other inscriptions : loc. cit., possibly Argive,
and on the plaque from Delphi, mentioned below,
again perhaps Argive, but lacking characteristic
letters. So also those from Orchomenos (B.C.H.
1895, 221). Any of these inscriptions might have
been written by a Corinthian artist (I- for ^, E for B,
and I for t. or $, see pp. 158-60), but this is not at
all probable.
2 Kleine Schriften i, 428.
3 One of the Argive mirrors has a rectangular field
below the disk (A.H. ii, pi. 96,1581) but this does not
project as it does in all the Corinthian examples;
the majority have nothing of the kind. Several (pi.
96, 1555, 6) have small volutes which recall East-
Greek mirrors: A. Anz. 1919, iff. The mirrors from
Bassae, Eph. Arch. 1903, 174 ff., are likewise of a
different type from the Corinthian. Embossed
mirrors are, of course, by no means a Corinthian
monopoly: cf. Studniczka, A. Anz. loc. cit., publish-
ing East-Greek examples; here again the rectangular
field is completely lacking.
reliefs of this class have inscriptions, one of them an inscription in the Argive
alphabet;1 it was therefore suggested by Furtwangler that they were made
at Argos, and it is fairly certain that they were made, in part at least, by Argive
artists. Furtwangler, however, in a later article,2 recognized that there was
definite evidence of connexion with Corinth, and this opinion has been con-
siderably strengthened since he wrote.
A strong argument against an Argive origin in the proper sense of the word
is that the finds at the Argive Heraeum have revealed not a trace of this fabric.
The Heraeum has produced, and continues to produce, excellent bronze
work, but nothing of the 'Argive-Corinthian' class has been found there. A
fine bronze relief discovered last year (1927) has embossed and engraved
designs in a style recalling the Thermon metopes, but is of a different
fabric from the Argive-Corinthian reliefs. Several of the best-known Argive-
Corinthian reliefs are mirrors, and these are of a shape which, as Furtwangler
pointed out, must be regarded as Corinthian. The numerous Argive mirrors
from the Heraeum are analogous in form, but differ consistently in details.3
Corinth, on the other hand, has produced a number of the most important
Argive-Corinthian reliefs, and it is therefore only reasonable to regard the
Argive-Corinthian fabric as a part of the Corinthian industry, for which
Argive artists may have been to some extent responsible. The style of the
decoration is often very difficult to judge, but in certain cases it corresponds
well enough with that of Protocorinthian and Corinthian vases; many of the
reliefs, however, belong to the late archaic period, from which we have no
Corinthian vase-paintings for comparison.
As to the second question, the chronology of the Argive-Corinthian fabric,
it is in general true to say that the reliefs are dated far too early. Some,
it is true, are Protocorinthian and have been classified as such; others,
which have been spoken of as early archaic, and which, in part at any rate,
preserve the character of the quite early work, can be proved to belong to the
fifth century. In many cases the dates are hard to determine, but one thing is
certain: the makers of the later reliefs were progressive and reactionary by
turns; at one moment they would copy an elaborate figurative design, and
succeed admirably in catching the character of contemporary work; at another
1 01ympiaiv.pl. 39. Furtwangler,.Kleine Schriften
i, 410. Other inscriptions : loc. cit., possibly Argive,
and on the plaque from Delphi, mentioned below,
again perhaps Argive, but lacking characteristic
letters. So also those from Orchomenos (B.C.H.
1895, 221). Any of these inscriptions might have
been written by a Corinthian artist (I- for ^, E for B,
and I for t. or $, see pp. 158-60), but this is not at
all probable.
2 Kleine Schriften i, 428.
3 One of the Argive mirrors has a rectangular field
below the disk (A.H. ii, pi. 96,1581) but this does not
project as it does in all the Corinthian examples;
the majority have nothing of the kind. Several (pi.
96, 1555, 6) have small volutes which recall East-
Greek mirrors: A. Anz. 1919, iff. The mirrors from
Bassae, Eph. Arch. 1903, 174 ff., are likewise of a
different type from the Corinthian. Embossed
mirrors are, of course, by no means a Corinthian
monopoly: cf. Studniczka, A. Anz. loc. cit., publish-
ing East-Greek examples; here again the rectangular
field is completely lacking.