Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/304

 280 HISTORY OF ART IN PHCENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. The oldest and most primitive examples that have come down to us are the vessels found in considerable quantities in the tombs of Alambra, near Dali. Some are of a black earth like that of which those Chiusi vessels called by the Italians di bucchero nero are composed ; in others the material is similar to that of the bowls of Turkish pipes ; both, but especially the red, are susceptible of a high polish. Decorations are not painted but incised (Fig. 209). Nowadays these hollow lines are full of a white powder which makes them stand out conspicuously from the ground. Some archaeologists have thought they offered the same appearance in antiquity ; but, in fact, the white in question may be easily removed by a dry brush, and is nothing more than a deposit from the calcareous soil in which the vessels had lain so long. FIG. 209. Bottle with incised ornament. From Cesnola. 1 Although we may look upon this decoration as the oldest employed in the island, it does not follow that all the objects on which it is found date from the beginning of the industry. The bottle above figured is no clumsy object. The fine contour of the body, the shape of the neck, the solid attachment of the handle, all afford evidence of great skill. Decoration with the point was thus made use of long after the manufacture had grown out of its first infancy ; it is by reflection and comparison that we are brought to the conclusion that it was older than painted ornament. It was much easier than the latter. In a whole series of ancient ceramic objects, that from Hissarlik in the Troad, we find scarcely a trace of colour. Both in Cyprus and at Hissarlik the 1 Cyprus, p. 408.