Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/274

 24- A History of Art in Chald^a and Assyria. renderings of the magnificent chairs and tables of bronze, inlaid with ivory and lapis-lazuli, of which so many fragments have been found in the Assyrian palaces. Every detail that the chisel could render has been faithfully copied. Except in colour and material, the objects themselves are before us. The fringed coverlet thrown over the kind's knees, the cushion on which he leans, the garland thrown over the arm of his couch, the system of metal uprights and cross pieces of which the queen s throne, the king's bed, and the small table placed between them consist, Fig. 128. — Terra-cotta statuette. Actual size. British Museum. Drawn by Saint-Elme Gautier. might all be restored without difficulty. The chiselled feet of all these objects resemble fir-cones in shape. In the case of the table they are connected with its body by lion's paws. On the lower bar of the queen's chair there is a small couchant lion. It may be thought, perhaps with truth, that the sculptor has overdone these details, and that his figures are, in some degree, sacrificed to the decorations about them. Other examples from the same series, give a higher idea of the sculpture of this time ;