Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/119

 GENERAL REMARKS UPON THE STUDY OF PHOENICIAN ART. 99 label, if we may use the word, of a Phoenician agent attached to them. If we take them one by one, we may surely arrive at an idea of the taste and methods of the Carthaginian worker in precious metal ; I say Carthaginian because philologists have marked a peculiarity in the text of this platter which suggests an African rather than a Syrian origin. FIG. 36. Phoenician platter; silver. Diameter 7f inches. Drawn by Wallctt. It will be seen, then, that the method we propose to follow is less uncertain than it seems. No doubt we shall take our examples from points very far apart, but that does not mean that we shall take them at hazard. When we refer some object found in a tomb at Mycense, in Etruria, or Sardinia to