Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/302

 278 HISTORY OF ART IN PHOENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. in vases. 1 These vases are distinguished from those already mentioned by the simplicity of their ornament. No more figures of men, of animals, or even of vegetables ; no more leaves, rosettes, or even engraved lines. The ground consists of a green glaze forming a strong contrast with a horizontal band of white, over which brown spots and chevrons are sprinkled. In some cases the whole body of the vase is divided into four parts by bands of white and lines of brown. 2 Some vases sent from India to the Paris Exhibition of 1867 had exactly the same enamel and general appearance as these bottles from Cameiros, and although the latter were all found in an island where Greek art was developed at a very early date, we can have no hesitation in recognizing in them the spirit and tradition of oriental art ; their makers relied entirely upon the beauty of their glaze to make them attractive ; neither their forms nor the design of their ornaments seems to have excited a moment's thought ; brilliant and harmonious colour once obtained, the workman was content. As for the age to be assigned to these vases, on which the decoration is all on the flat, it is not, we think, greater than that of specimens betraying a full knowledge of Egyptian forms and an endeavour to imitate them ; both kinds were, indeed, encountered in the same tombs at Cameiros. The earthenware with a green glaze and a decoration of brown and white chevrons was in fact what a modern tradesman would call a special line ; it had its day, and then, like other things requiring no great skill or taste on the part of their makers, it disappeared. We have laid all these glazed earthenware vases to the account of Phoenicia, but none of them were actually found in Syria, or even in Cyprus. Both process and materials are the same as in those vases in which an Egypto- Phoenician character is most strongly marked, while we have not the slightest reason to suppose that the Greeks ever set themselves to manufacture vessels of glazed faience. From the very commencement Greek ceramists were animated by a spirit quite distinct from that shown by easterns ; the latter were, as they are still, pre-occupied with colour, while the Hellenic potters sought for nobility of form and tried to devise something that should touch the mind. 1 DE LONGPERIER, Mus'ee Napoleon ///., letterpress to plate 1. 2 The principal varieties of this. type are brought together in plates 1. and li. of the Musee Napoleon III.