Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/95

 Bronzes, Statuettes, Votive Boats. 77 salience terminating in a stag's head, and birds set upon the top of a tall central pole, as in Fig. 83, are not uncommon. Here and there too another variety, a bull's head device, with a figure walk- ing on all fours at the bottom of the boat, is met with — but so roughly modelled as to induce doubt whether an animal or a human form was intended. The presumption, however, militates in favour of the latter ; for in some bronzes in the Cagliari museum, wherein the drapery clearly indicates that we have to deal with a Fig. 85, — Votive Dagger. Actual size. From Crespi. human figure, the head, owing to the artist's unskilfulness, exhibits a simian-like aspect. 1 To enumerate in detail all the objects of this series, such as horses' bits, 2 daggers, styles, etc., 3 would carry us beyond our scope ; we will confine ourselves, therefore, to a noteworthy type of which numerous exemplars have been brought to light in various portions of the island (Fig. 85)/ It consists of a triangular metal plaque, 1 Crispi, Le Navicelle, Plate II. fig. a. 2 Ibid., Boll., p. 116, Plate IV. fig. 9. 3 Ibid., Plate V. 4 A careful catalogue of the various pieces found in the Sardinian collections has been made by M. Pais, as well as drawings of the variants yielded by the series.