DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25181#0015
136
On the different styles of Pottery found in
portrayed on the pottery being neither Semitic nor Hamitic in character, though
on such an obscure subject I would express myself with diffidence.
Birds are a favourite subject with these primitive artists, though the treatment
is sometimes so conventional that it is not always easy to see which of the
feathered tribe were intended to he represented. We have already noticed a jug
(PI. X. fig. 7), on which is shown a stork in the act of seizing a snake, or
as if the reptile had just dropped from its beak. Another vase of elegant form,
resting on peculiar feet, seems to he ornamented with a swan (PI. XII. fig. 5).
In a third jar we see two vultures, represented probably as feeding on the body
of the deceased, while between them, as if emblematic of immortality, the lotus-
flower flourishes. The lotus-flower is a favourite ornament with these early
artists, several jars having been found adorned with it. The bull, and more
rarely the human form, are sometimes represented, but jars having for their
subjects any form of animal life are comparatively rare, and do not amount to
one in a thousand. The majority of such vases have been excavated from one
burial-ground, which is of great extent, and at a distance from any town, about
half-way between Larnaka and Pamagousta, not far from a village called
Makrasyka, in the south-east corner of the island. The neighbourhood of Idalium
has also produced a few.
An idea has perhaps now been given by the aid of the annexed plates of the
most interesting or commonest types of pottery brought to light in this class of
LAMP FROM CYPRUS.
Scale -5 linear.
tombs. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the better kind of
pottery is found in all the tombs. The contrary is the case. Most of the graves
On the different styles of Pottery found in
portrayed on the pottery being neither Semitic nor Hamitic in character, though
on such an obscure subject I would express myself with diffidence.
Birds are a favourite subject with these primitive artists, though the treatment
is sometimes so conventional that it is not always easy to see which of the
feathered tribe were intended to he represented. We have already noticed a jug
(PI. X. fig. 7), on which is shown a stork in the act of seizing a snake, or
as if the reptile had just dropped from its beak. Another vase of elegant form,
resting on peculiar feet, seems to he ornamented with a swan (PI. XII. fig. 5).
In a third jar we see two vultures, represented probably as feeding on the body
of the deceased, while between them, as if emblematic of immortality, the lotus-
flower flourishes. The lotus-flower is a favourite ornament with these early
artists, several jars having been found adorned with it. The bull, and more
rarely the human form, are sometimes represented, but jars having for their
subjects any form of animal life are comparatively rare, and do not amount to
one in a thousand. The majority of such vases have been excavated from one
burial-ground, which is of great extent, and at a distance from any town, about
half-way between Larnaka and Pamagousta, not far from a village called
Makrasyka, in the south-east corner of the island. The neighbourhood of Idalium
has also produced a few.
An idea has perhaps now been given by the aid of the annexed plates of the
most interesting or commonest types of pottery brought to light in this class of
LAMP FROM CYPRUS.
Scale -5 linear.
tombs. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the better kind of
pottery is found in all the tombs. The contrary is the case. Most of the graves