Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/293

 Furniture and Ornament about the Temple. 263 palms distributed at stated intervals between the beading and the dentels serve as divisions or panels. The only detail which we have added of our own are clustering papyri, disposed on the panels of the box between each kerûb ; their straight, elegant lines forming an agreeable contrast with the flowing outline of the animal forms. We submit that our apparatus is endowed with a more satisfactory aspect than one exhibiting open work would have been ; which, though calcu- lated to lighten the weight and pressure put upon the rollers, would have sensibly diminished the avail- able space for ornament ; and that this could, at best, only have been poor, dry, and rigid. 1 On the other hand, the plating of the panels might be made so thin that increase of weight would scarcely be appre- ciable. Small pieces of furniture have been recovered in all countries that traded with Phoenicia. The beauty of design and workmanship which distinguished many of these art- objects in the olden time caused them to be ascribed to a deity. Thus we read in Homer that Vul- cain, the " divine artificer," was putting on the last touch to an exquisite tripod, designed for Olym- pus, when he is visited by Thetis. This particular piece was set on golden rollers, which, like submissive slaves, were to move at a sign from their creator ; 2 and again of Helen's silver-gilt basket, which contained her distaff and soft wools of many hues, as being 1 For reasons adduced in the text, Stade selected the latter arrangement in his restoration. 2 Iliad, xviii. 375-378.