Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/304

 288 HISTORY OF ART IN ANTIQUITY. country, was told that the trinkets in question had been taken out of a tumulus a not improbable statement ; for if nothing of the kind has been discovered in the tomb of Alyattes, the fact is due to its having been rifled in antiquity ; whilst the score or so of tumuli that have been recently opened in Southern Caria have yielded a variety of gold objects, jewels, tubes, pieces that were sewn on dresses, spirals, rings, fibulse. 1 " The main piece is a thick gold slab or plaque, shaped into a semicircle ; a horizontal tube, held in place by four rings, divides the field into two unequal sections ; above is a narrow band whose space is entirely taken up by a row of discs, ornamented, like the rings, with a beaded edge (Fig. 203). A double twist sur- rounds the sides and the top of the oblong panel. Diminutive bulls' heads stamped on gold leaf appear in the two central discs ; a navel is the only decoration of Nos. 2 and 5, whilst the remaining ones at either end exhibit two huge rams' heads. Below the cylinder, towards the top of the semicircle, are three heads of different animals ; a bull in the centre, flanked by hawks of considerable size. Each of these discs has a central hole into which is let the neck of the animal. The way it was secured at the back was not by soldering, but by turning down the end piece (see Fig. 204). Below, in the middle of the slab, is a small female figure in slight relief, vhose hieratic pose, dress, and hair arranged Catalogue des objeti (Fart antiques, terres antes, bijoux, verrerie, made by M. Froehner for the sale of the Hoffman collection (May 26, 27, 1886). The letterpress is accompanied by a capital coloured plate, 4to, 1886, Plate XX. Its only drawback is that the objects appear too fresh and new. 1 PATON, Excavations in Caria, pp. 68, 69 (Journal of Hell. Studies, 1887). FlG. 203. I.yclian plaque. Height, 68 c. ; length, 77 c. Louvre. Drawn by St. Elme Gautier.