Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/335

 282 Primitive Greece: Mvcenian Art. look at each other from a golden leaf." Chisellers, whether in ivory or metal, have rarely put in action those great aquatic birds, with long necks and huge wings, which began to creep in the decoration of pottery, and which the ceramists of a later age were so fond of introducing into their works. As far as we know, there is not a single example of a partial or whole bird modelled in gold, stone, or clay. If the sculptor allotted to it so small a place in his compositions, it was with no set purpose, but because he had to please tribal chiefs. The wealth of these mainly consisted of great droves of cattle and sheep ; and their prowess showed itself in warlike expeditions, or in hunting wild beasts. The wary artists ministered to the vanity of the chieftains Fig, 407.— Ivory griffin. Actual size. by perpetually bringing under their eyes the thoroughbred horses that drove their chariots, the oxen that tilled their lands or were being fattened for the table, the wild bulls and roaring lions, as well as the timid deer which they chased in the thickly-tangled overgrowth of their native hills. On the other hand, animals occupying a low grade not unfrequently crop up in the most quaint fashion, where, too, one would least expect to see them. Thus, insects, and above all mollusks, seem to have met with special favour with the native artist. These he so often repeated as to develop or simplify them by routine work, causing them to fade into mere ornamental forms, in which it is sometimes Hard to trace the original whence they sprang. Such types, owing to their diminutive size and consequent tenuity of detail, could not easily find a place in the repertory of genuine sculpture, 1 ScHLiEMANN, Myceiia.