Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/364

 326 A History of Art in Chald.-ea and Assyria. The bas-reliefs tell us nothing about those large vessels, analogous, no doubt, to the ï/3t)s and Kparrjp of the Greeks, upon the sides of which the human-headed birds with extended wings, one of which we have already figured, were fixed (Fig. 91). Neither has any complete specimen of the class yet been dis- co'ered in the excavations. The frequent employment of this motive is proved, however, by the number of these detached pieces that we possess. They all come from Van, but they belonged to different vases. We here engrave a second example (Fig. 207). The ring on the back by which the handle was attached will be noticed. As in the throne described above the bronze was relieved with inlaid ornament ; there is a hollow in Fig. 207. — Applied piece. Height 9 inches ; width 14 inches. From the collection of M. de Vogué. the breast in which it was set. In the originals the rivet-holes which afforded a means of fixing them may be seen ; in one or two the heads of the rivets are still in place. This specimen differs from one figured on page 172, in that it has two heads. We do not multiply examples of the vessels used to transport liquids, because their decorative forms were found pretty equally distributed all over Chaldsea and Assyria. We have every reason to believe that they were produced in great numbers in all the towns of Mesopotamia. On the other hand, there is a whole class of vessels that perplex and embarrass archaeolo- gists almost as much as they delight them — the class of metal