Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/324

 296 HISTORY OF ART IN PHOENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. chequers together with some rosettes and wavy crosses, side by side with a large bird. In consequence of the ease with which they could be drawn, birds were perhaps the first things copied on earthenware. On one of the vases here reproduced we see a fish keeping company with the aquatic bird (Fig. 234), and the ice once broken the Cypriot potter soon began to try his hand on other animals. On a large FIG. 230. Vase from Curium. Height 13^ inches. Metropolitan Museum of New York. two-handled vase from Curium we find the horse introduced (Fig. 238). This elaborate vase is quite unique in its own way in Cyprus. It so strongly resembles certain very ancient Attic vases in form, in the design of its ornament, and in its physiognomy as a whole, that doubts of its Cypriot origin inevitably arise. However this may be, its great interest is undeniable. It may be considered as offering one of the very best examples of the finest geometrical decoration. Nearly all the motives which make up that style are employed