Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 2.djvu/364

 332 HISTORY OF ART IN PHCENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. seems to have been attached to the perfect transparency of glass as we attach to it to-day ; the most highly prized glass was decorated with lines and ribbons of colour ; l it was upon this latter class of manufacture that the cleverest workmen were employed, and we shall see presently how clever they were. Finally the same workshops turned out glass that was quite opaque, but of which the secret has since been lost. M. Grea'u possesses a glass statuette in which there is thirty per cent, of bronze. This mixture gave a fine, hard, and heavy material for incrusting furniture and casing walls. Its tone is very much like that of one kind of lacquer. 2 We shall not dwell upon colourless and transparent nor upon opaque glass ; the first was only used for common things, and the popularity of the latter belongs to a period much later than that to which we have limited ourselves. Our object is to speak fully of those many-coloured glass vessels found at Cameiros and in Cyprus, in the same tombs as enamelled faience of Egyptian manufacture ; in these we may recognise the masterpieces of the old Phoenician industry, dating back to the early years of her commerce with Egypt. In our Plates VII., VI II., and IX., a choice of examples will be found, all of which, thanks to the liberality of their owner, we have handled and closely inspected in the original. 3 1 The phrase opaque glass is sometimes applied to the coloured glass of Egypt and Phoenicia ; it is, however, inaccurate, as we may easily convince ourselves by holding a specimen up to the light. In nearly every case it is frankly transparent ; the only exceptions are in those cases where the glass is carelessly made and impure ; when good specimens seem opaque it is because they are dirty inside. The term opaque should be reserved for that glass which has been deliberately deprived of transparency, so as to give it a surface like marble or porcelain. 2 Pliny says of this glass, " Totum rubens vitrum atque non translucens, hcema- tinum appellatum" (xxxvi. 197). He saw statues of Augustus carried out in this material and admired its density : "Capti materiae ejus crassitudine." 8 According to M. GRAU, who could not, however, feel quite satisfied in every case as to the authenticity of the information given to him, the objects figured in these three plates are to be accounted for as follows : Plate vii. Fig. i, alabastron formerly in the Parent Collection ; found by Salzmannat Cameiros. Fig. 2, found in Syria. It belonged to the Lavec Collection, which consisted mainly of objects dug up during the making of the high road between Beyrout and Damascus. Fig. 3, alabastron bought in Syria. . Plate viii. Figs, i and 2, alabastron and cenochoe' found in Cyprus. Fig. 3, jar from the Lavec Collection. Plate ix. Fig. i, alabastron from Cesnola's first excavations in Cyprus, in 1867. Fig. 2, M. Grdau could not discover where this fine cenochoe' was found, but he