DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.619#0062
PAINTED POTTERY OF NAUKRATIS.
53
beneath it; perhaps from a contest of Herakles
with the Kretan, or Theseus with the Marathonian
bull (below is a fine pattern of egg moulding);
rev. part of a contest showing the spears of two
figures and the scabbard and leg of the figure
opposed to them. Both these designs are in a
brown outline. (3) A beautiful head of a female
figure to right with part of the left arm, over
which a himation passes, coloured a deep blue-
black with accessories of purple and white; the
technique is like that of the Nesidora cup in the
British Museum; rev. part of a leg, scabbard
and lion-skin, probably belonging to a figure of
Herakles—beside it [KAL]0£.
62. There is one more style of vase-painting which
offers an interesting problem, and upon which
Naukratis throws valuable light. There is in the
Cabinet des Medailles at Paris a vase which for
a long time remained the isolated example of its
class; it is a kylix with polychrome figures on a
white ground, representing iu the interior Arkesi-
laos, king of Cyrene, weighing silphium. In an
article in the Arch. Zeitung, 1881, p. 215, Puch-
stein collected all the then known vases of this
type, and pointed out the strongly-marked Egyp-
tian character which pervades the entke series;
taking the Arkesilaos cup as the central point, he
fixed upon Cyrene as the locale of this fabric, both
on account of the intimate relations of Egypt
with that town, specially under the reigns of the
Battiadse and Amasis, and also because Cyrene
was then the only Greek colony near Egypt from
which vases had been obtained. On the other
hand^ all the arguments Puchstein brought to
bear would tell equally in favour of Naukratis;
the Egyptian character of the details, and the
intimate relations of Cyrene with Egypt and there-
fore with Naukratis. Amasis married a Cyrenian,
but then Amasis was also the special protector of
Naukratis. So that it is not surprising to find
a fine example at Naukratis of this so-called
"Cyrenian" ware; it is represented on pll. viii, ix.
In this vase, as is usual in the so-called "Cyre-
nian" style, the picture occupies the whole of the
interior, of which the entire space is prepared with
a white engobe; the exterior is as usual decorated
with a conventional frieze of animals, painted in
black and purple on the natural reddish colour of
the clay; the ornament is exactly what we have in
the specimens collected by Puchstein. What the
interior scene is intended to represent it is im-
possible to say; the central space is occupied by
a large tree extending over the entire height of
the design, towards which a number of winged
figures on each side are flying. These winged
figures are already familiar to us from Puchstein's
examples, in which they are often introduced with
apparently no reference to the action going for-
ward. In some cases they wear Egyptian head-
dresses, and it would seem as if most of these
designs were mere travesties, or at any rate
reminiscences, of Egyptian wall-paintings by
artists to whom the originals conveyed no mean-
ing. Now on one example of this fabric in the
British Museum, which was found at Kamiros, and
which is not included in Puchstein's list, the
exterior is decorated with lotus, the interior with
a design in the familiar Naukratian style of purple
and white upon a black glaze; which would argue in
favour of a Naukratian origin. On the other hand,
among the so-called Cyrene vase paintings a number
of vases are depicted, and if they were made at Nau-
kratis we should expect that these pictures would
recall shapes known from Mr. Petrie's discoveries ;
but not one of these shapes can be identified,
neither do we find in the Naukratis collection a
single other specimen which can be assigned to
this style. On the whole, then, I think we must
let the term " Cyrenian" remain until we obtain
more decisive evidence on this point; we must
recollect that in the excavations hitherto conducted,
the older Cyrene has not yet been discovered;
when this site, wherever it may be, is thoroughly
explored, we shall probably be in a position to
decide more definitely both with regard to the so-
called " Cyrene " ware as well as many other of
the different fabrics found at Naukratis.
The remainder of the collection calls for little
comment; but it is interesting, in the light of the
53
beneath it; perhaps from a contest of Herakles
with the Kretan, or Theseus with the Marathonian
bull (below is a fine pattern of egg moulding);
rev. part of a contest showing the spears of two
figures and the scabbard and leg of the figure
opposed to them. Both these designs are in a
brown outline. (3) A beautiful head of a female
figure to right with part of the left arm, over
which a himation passes, coloured a deep blue-
black with accessories of purple and white; the
technique is like that of the Nesidora cup in the
British Museum; rev. part of a leg, scabbard
and lion-skin, probably belonging to a figure of
Herakles—beside it [KAL]0£.
62. There is one more style of vase-painting which
offers an interesting problem, and upon which
Naukratis throws valuable light. There is in the
Cabinet des Medailles at Paris a vase which for
a long time remained the isolated example of its
class; it is a kylix with polychrome figures on a
white ground, representing iu the interior Arkesi-
laos, king of Cyrene, weighing silphium. In an
article in the Arch. Zeitung, 1881, p. 215, Puch-
stein collected all the then known vases of this
type, and pointed out the strongly-marked Egyp-
tian character which pervades the entke series;
taking the Arkesilaos cup as the central point, he
fixed upon Cyrene as the locale of this fabric, both
on account of the intimate relations of Egypt
with that town, specially under the reigns of the
Battiadse and Amasis, and also because Cyrene
was then the only Greek colony near Egypt from
which vases had been obtained. On the other
hand^ all the arguments Puchstein brought to
bear would tell equally in favour of Naukratis;
the Egyptian character of the details, and the
intimate relations of Cyrene with Egypt and there-
fore with Naukratis. Amasis married a Cyrenian,
but then Amasis was also the special protector of
Naukratis. So that it is not surprising to find
a fine example at Naukratis of this so-called
"Cyrenian" ware; it is represented on pll. viii, ix.
In this vase, as is usual in the so-called "Cyre-
nian" style, the picture occupies the whole of the
interior, of which the entire space is prepared with
a white engobe; the exterior is as usual decorated
with a conventional frieze of animals, painted in
black and purple on the natural reddish colour of
the clay; the ornament is exactly what we have in
the specimens collected by Puchstein. What the
interior scene is intended to represent it is im-
possible to say; the central space is occupied by
a large tree extending over the entire height of
the design, towards which a number of winged
figures on each side are flying. These winged
figures are already familiar to us from Puchstein's
examples, in which they are often introduced with
apparently no reference to the action going for-
ward. In some cases they wear Egyptian head-
dresses, and it would seem as if most of these
designs were mere travesties, or at any rate
reminiscences, of Egyptian wall-paintings by
artists to whom the originals conveyed no mean-
ing. Now on one example of this fabric in the
British Museum, which was found at Kamiros, and
which is not included in Puchstein's list, the
exterior is decorated with lotus, the interior with
a design in the familiar Naukratian style of purple
and white upon a black glaze; which would argue in
favour of a Naukratian origin. On the other hand,
among the so-called Cyrene vase paintings a number
of vases are depicted, and if they were made at Nau-
kratis we should expect that these pictures would
recall shapes known from Mr. Petrie's discoveries ;
but not one of these shapes can be identified,
neither do we find in the Naukratis collection a
single other specimen which can be assigned to
this style. On the whole, then, I think we must
let the term " Cyrenian" remain until we obtain
more decisive evidence on this point; we must
recollect that in the excavations hitherto conducted,
the older Cyrene has not yet been discovered;
when this site, wherever it may be, is thoroughly
explored, we shall probably be in a position to
decide more definitely both with regard to the so-
called " Cyrene " ware as well as many other of
the different fabrics found at Naukratis.
The remainder of the collection calls for little
comment; but it is interesting, in the light of the