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164 them as Græco-Buddhistic sculptures. Their resemblance to the Byzantine ivories, as of this casket to Byzantine goldsmiths' work, is probably due to their having been executed by Indian workmen from Greek designs or models. It will be interesting to observe that the peaked arches represented on the casket are identical in character with the peaked arches of the upper part of the piazza of St Mark's at Venice, which was built I believe in 1592, The bottom of the casket is ornamented with a beautiful conventional representation of the sacred lotus with eight petals, which are pointed like the arches of the eight niches above them.

The silver patera has been fully described and figured by me in vol. xi, New Series, of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature. It was also described and figured by Prinsep in vol. vii. of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Bengal; and is mentioned and badly figured in Sir Alexander Burnes' Cabool, 1843. Colonel Yule gives a woodcut of it in the second edition of his Marco Polo. Sir Alexander Burnes figures along with it a second silver dish of Persian work, representing Yezdigird I [ 632], which is described by General Cunningham in vol. x. of the