books NK 685 . C8 H2 1907 THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ROME Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/decorativeartofcOOdoha THE DECORATIVE ART OE CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. Introduction. When in 1878 Professor Furtwangler and Professor Loschcke were sort- ing the fragments of painted vases which had been brought into the Polytech- nion in Athens from various “Mycenaean” sites in Greece, they found that, “with the exception of the spiral and of a few motives derived from weaving, all the patterns of vases with lustrous paint, even those in which delight in fanciful combinations of lines had guided the artist’s hand, were, in their oldest forms, representations of natural objectsd The material available for a study of Mycenaean design has been greatly increased since this statement was made, especially by recent excavations in Crete. There ornamented objects have been brought to light from all the successive stages of a civilization which extended from the beginning to the end of the bronze age. The object of this paper is to ascertain how far the observation of Professor Furtwangler about the pottery known m 1878 holds good for this wider and better understood field of Cretan decorative art. If the character of the designs of Cretan vases be determined, the kind of ornament which appears in other prehistoric sites of the Aegean basin will be intelligible, since the culture of these places will be found to be parallel and akin to one stage or another of Cretan culture. The English excavators in Crete have divided Cretan pottery of the bronze age into three periods, to which they give the names: ‘Early Minoan,’ ‘Middle Minoan,’ and ‘Late Minoan.’ ^ Each of these three periods is again divided into three subdivisions. The Cretan bronze-age pottery which has been published is arranged according to these nine divisions in the table opposite page 50. In parallel columns are arranged according to the same classification the most important decorated objects of early Cretan civilization other than pottery and also the bronze-age pottery from other sites in the Aegean basin. ‘See Furtwiingler and Loschcke, Mykcnische Vasen, Introduction, p. iv. ^ See A. Evans, E's.sai de clastaifwation des (■■poques de la civilisation M inoenne, iuu\ 11. .M. Dawkins, B. S. A. X, pp. 19.5 and 19(i. G TKAXSACTIOXS, DEI’ARTMEXT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. References to the publications of this material are not invariably given in the text but are always to be found in the tabled Classificatiox of Designs. To apprehend better the nature and importance of the beginnings of Cretan ornament, a statement of the various kinds of design found in Cretan decorative art throughout the course of the bronze age may well be made at the outset. These designs may be divided into two main classes: ] . Imitative Designs in which there is representation of things seen or thought. These include: (a) pure naturalistic designs which represent in a realistic way natural objects or other naturalistic designs not yet degenerated b_y copy- ing, e. g., Fig. 1 ; (b) conventional naturalistic designs in which the artist accepts con- ventional methods of representing natural objects, e. g.. Fig. 2; (c) conventionalized naturalistic designs in wliich, because of long periods of mechanical copying, representations of natural objects are remlered in a stereotyped fashion, e. g.. Fig. 3; (d) sacral designs which I'epresent sacred objects. 2. Non-imitative Designs or compositions of lines for the sake of balance, rhythm, and harmony^ in which the element of representation is not found. These include: (a) simple, stock patterns, like spirals, crescents, dots, etc. * The titles of periodicals quoted in this paper are abl)reviated as follows: A. J. A. = American Journal of Archaeology. Arch. Anz. = Archiiologischer Anzeiger, Beiblatt zuin Jahrhuch des archaologischen Instituts. Ant. Denk. =Antike Denkmaler. Athen. Mitt. = Mitteilungen des kaiserlichen deutschen archaologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung. B. C. H. = Bulletin de corre.spondance hellenique. B. S. A. = Annual of the British School at Athens. ’E<^. = ’E<^ry/xepts 'Ap)(aioX.oyiKy]. J. H. S. = Journal of Hellenic Studies. J. R. I. B. A. = Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Mon. Ant. =Monumenti Antichi. Rdm. Mitt. = Mitteilungen des kaiserlichen deutschen archaologischen Instituts. Romische Abteilung. Transactions = Transactions of the Department of Archaeology of the University of Pennsylvania, ^ Compare D. W. Ross in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1901, XXXVI, No. 21, p. ;157 ff. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. I (b) complicated designs made up it may be of simple, stock patterns but constituting, by virtue of the way in which these motives are combined, original compositions, e. g.. Fig. 4. Fig. 1, from J. H. S. 1903, XXIII, p. 189, Fig. 8, 10. Fig. 2, from J. H. S. 1903, XXIII, PL V, 2. The distinction between la and lb or Ic is a distinction of degree for in Cretan decorative art close studies of nature are rare. Flowers are always more or less conventionally treated. Yet between the designs of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 Fig. 3, from J. H . S. 1903, XXIII, p. 197, Fig. 13. Fig. 4, from B. S. .4. 1902-3, IX, p. 20, Fig. 8. there is too great a difference to admit of their being classed together. The di.stinction between lb and Ic is this, that conventionalized naturalistic designs were once rendered in a more lifelike form; convimtional naturalistic designs were not. Earia Minoax 1. From the first of the nine pm-iods of Cretan bronze age pottery very little ware has been found and none has as yet been fully published. It is reported,* however, to be similar to the neolithic ware' directly above which it lies. It is handmade and jiolished. Decoration, when it occui’s, is ol)tained by * See A. J. I'A’aiis, op. cit. p. F> and H. S. .1. l!K)3-4, p. 22. s TRANSACTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. incision, puncturation and in some cases, it seems, by paint. It is of the simplest linear-geometric character. Earla" Minoan II. In the second division of the early period, the same sort of primitive technique prevailed. The iiractice of incision continued, and there was also in use, especially at Vasiliki,^ in the eastern end of the island, a method of decoration which consisted in firing the vase in such a way as to produce a brilliantly mottled red and black surface. The perfecting of this and of other processes of surface treatment inherited from neolithic epochs were throughout this period the jiotter’s chief concern. A lustrous surface on a vase is obviously advantageous for practical reasons, and for aesthetic reasons also, it was probably preferred at first to painted decoration. For a polished lustrous surface affords of itself a kind of aesthetic pleasure and when, as at Vasiliki, there is the added pleasure afforded by the contrast of red and black patches of color, it is easy to see how such decoration would compete successfully with painted patterns which appeal to the instinct for rhythm and har- mony of line. A typical ornament of this period is given in Fig. 5. The Fig. 5, from Transactions I, Part III, PI. XXV, G. V a. boldness with which this pattern is applied to the vase shows a marked advance in decorative sense, though the design itself is shown by Mr. Evans ^ to have been derived directly from the incised decoration of earlier periods. Earla" Minoan III. In the third division of the early period a larger proportion of vases is painted.® The prevailing color of the paint is white on a slightly lustrous ' See table, opp. p. 50. B.S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 98. ^ The presence of incised vases in strata of this period is attributed by Mr. Evans {B. S. A. 1903-4, Vol. X, p. 23) to Cycladic influence. Simple incised geometric ornaments con- tinued on stone vases throughout later periods. See, e. g., Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, cols. 473-474, Figs. 79 and 81, from the earlier palace (Middle Minoan II) of Phaistos. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 9 browTi or black ground-paint though occasionally the design-paint is brown and is applied to the clay as ground. The clay is well sifted and baked in the oven. The use of the wheel probably begins in this period, and simultaneously the fashioning of vases out of very thin clay. The commonest principle of decoration^ is a horizontal band of ornament about the upper part of the vase. Occasionally several zones of ornament appear. Within these zones the fundamental motive is the zigzag, Fig. 6, from designs in Transactions I, Part III, Pis. XXVI-XXXIII. an inheritance doubtless from earlier incised decoration. The simplest design in which it appears is shown in Fig. 6 a. But the other designs in this figure have an up and down character which suggests near relation to a zigzag. The arcs in Fig. 6 h and c are direct translations of the zigzag into curvilinear design while in d and e, if the circular device be regarded as the downward line in a zigzag, we get again a scheme which is akin to a simple zigzag line. This period, then, is marked by the transition from rectilinear to curvilinear orna- ment. The cause of the change was doubtless the established use of the brush, which made curvilinear design easy.^ The quirks which enforce the arcs in Fig. 6 c probably owe their existence to the use of the brush by a turn of which they could easily be made. They enjoyed a long life during later periotls of vase painting.^ ' See E. II. Hall in Transactions, Vol. I, Part III, p. 198 ff. ^ Compare Duncan Mackenzie in Phylakopi, p. 250. ^ See Argive Heraeum II, PI. LV, 22, for an instance of its use in the Late Minoan III period; Athen. Mitt. 190.3, XXVIII, PI. XVII, 4, opp. ]>. 144, for the geometric period; Argive Heraeum II, PI. LIX, 18 a and b for “Proto-Corinthian” ware; Loses atitiqucs du Louvre I, PI. 43, E 612 for Corinthian ware; II, PI. 56, E 784 for Italian-Ionian vases. It is not necessary to .suppose that this pattern was adopted in every case from the preced- ing period. Such simple ornainents may have been arrived at indepeiulently many times. A vase of the Late Minoan I period covered with this pattern was found in a tliolos tomb at llagia Triada {Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, cols. 68.5-687 and Fig. 4). Sig. Paribeni, after 10 TRANSACTIOXS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. An im2:)()i’tant pattern which ajipears as a frequent^ motive in Early Minoaii III vases is the spiral. In Egypt spirals were painted on vases in jn-e- dynastie periods, but in Crete up to the time of the Vth and Vlth dynasties paint was not widely used as a method of decoration, and consequently sj^irali- form ornament, which is not easily incised, was not employed.^ For seal- Fig. 7, from Transactions I, Part III, Pis. XXVII, XXVIII, XXX and XXXII. stones alone, the signs of individual possession and authority, did the toil of cutting out a curved pattern seem justified. pointing out the fact that such quirks were made by a single stroke of the brush, suggests that the pattern as it appears on the Hagia Triada vase may be a schematized form of ducks like those which occur on decorated objects of the iron age in Central Europe. This suggestion seems entirely improbable in view of its appearance in so early a stage of Cretan art as the Early Minoan III period. Equally improbable is the idea that this pattern is a degenerate cable pattern (Hogarth and Welch, J. H. S. 1901, XXI, p. 82 and Trans- actions, Vol. I, Part III, p. 201). ‘ Mr. Evans op. cit. p. 6, reports spiraliform designs in Early Minoan II vases. ^ In Syra, where incision continued to be practised during the Early Minoan III period, the difficulty of cutting on the round was obviated by stamping the design into the_clay. But this method seems not to have been known in Crete. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 11 Among these early experiments in curved lines appear several patterns (Fig. 7), which have a slight resemblance to natural objects. Fig. 7 a, b, c. d look like leaves. They are the counterparts of patterns which appear again in the second division of the middle period.^ In Fig. 7 c appears a pattern which, were it from a later period, would be called a conventionalized flower or leaf.^ The artist’s task was here to decorate a lozenge-shaped piece of clay’ with an ornament adapted to the shape of the field. He drew two chevrons in the corners and then bent their ends around to fill the central space. Again, h c Fig. 8, from Transactions I, Pa't III, Pis. XXVIII, XXX and XXXII. the elongated dots of Fig. 7 b give the effect of leaves springing alternately from a stalk, merely because they are tipped on end. Are these designs naturalistic? It seems improbable that the decorators of these vases ever seriously attmnpted to represent natural objects. Rather in experimenting with straight and curved lines in their search for balanced and harmonious decoration they happened upon designs which looked like ' Compare, e. g., the upper and lowin’ hands of ornaments on the eup in ./. //. S. 1908 XXIII, PI. VI, 1. ’See e. g. It. M. Dawkins, ,7. II. S. 1908, X.XIII, p. 2.')4. Sindlarly Hogarth and Welch call ]jatterns like those in Fig. 7 degraded leaves, J. //. S. 1901, XXI, p. 82. ’ This sherd is broken on the two short sides oidy. It may have been a part of an open- work dish like the much later lid in li. S. .1 . 1908-H10 I, X, |>. 224, Fig. 7. 12 TRANSACTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. natural objects. They saw the resemblance, and it pleased them. And here we see the prophecy of imitative designs, for as soon as the artist feels the distinction between designs which represent something and those which do not, and takes pleasure in this recognition, the history of imitative design has begun. The geometric animals in Fig. 8 are further illustra- tions of the way in which the artist put together types of natural forms out of geometric elements.^ The bodies of these animals, apart from their heads and tails, are equivalent to the hatched triangles and circles of purely geometric designs. On the whole, the designs of this period furnish excellent illustrations of a principle which is confirmed in the succeeding Middle Minoan I period, namely, that naturalistic designs do not necessarily begin as a realistic repro- duction of a particular natural object but as an arrangement of lines which suggest rather than picture natural forms. Or, to put this principle in terms of the classi- fication of Cretan pottery made above, the motive of imitation which produces designs which represent something does not operate so strongly in this early period as the instinctive desire for rhythm, harmony and balance, which leads to experiments in composition of lines and, in the end, to pure design. Accordingly, since the designs of this early period show to so slight a degree the elements of imitation, they should be assigned to the non-imitative class, and again, since they are simple and repeated on different vases, they should be assigned to the simple stock group within that class. Middle Minoan I. In deposits of the Early Minoan III period have been found seal stones with designs analogous to those on Egyptian “button seals” of the VI dy- nasty,^ which ended in 2475 B. C.® The second division of the middle period will be seen to be parallel to the XII dynasty in Egypt, which dates from 2000 to 1788 B. C.'* Between these two dates was the Middle Minoan I period. In passing to this period from the last division of the early period, we pass over no gap, but merely advance a step further in the continuous development of Cretan ceramics. The technique of the pottery of the two periods is nearly the same. The shapes of the Middle Minoan I vases in B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, p. 305, Fig. 5 are scarcely different from those to which the fragments which we have just examined are to be assigned.® The chief change in technique is ' Compare Edgar ia Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos, p. 100 and Pernier, Mon. Ant. 1902, XII, col. 114. ^ See A. J. Evans, op. cit. p. 7. ® According to the later chronology which, however, leaves a margin of error of a hundred years either way from this date. See Breasted, History of Egypt, p. 16. With a margin of error of only four years, ibid. p. 22. ® See Transactions III, p. 194 ff. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 13 the habitual use of an accessory color (red, crimson, or orange) to enhance the white design.^ But changes in design are more important for our purpose than changes in technique. In general, the decoration of these vases is reminiscent of the preceding period. The tailed spiral in Fig. 9 and the running spiral of Fig. 10 suggest the patterns of Fig. 6. The festoons, the cjuirks, and groups of lines in Fig. 11 are all motives which have appeared before (Fig. 6), while the older linear method of decoration continues unchanged on beaked jugs (J5. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 305, Fig. 5). And yet, in spite of these similari- ties there is a marked difference in the decoration of the two periods. In the matter of syntax of design the patterns in Figs. 9-13^ show an advance beyond Early Minoan III design. The patterns of the earlier period are applied in horizontal zones, each of which consists for the most part of a single decorative motive repeated a sufficient number of times to encircle the vase. But designs of this period are applied freely and with far fewer repetitions to the decorated field. Fig. 9, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 305, Fig. 4. Fig. 10, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 305, Fig. 5. In Figs. 11 and 13 all traces of horizontal zon s of ornament have disappeared. In those vases where decoration is still applied in zones (Fig. 12), the designs are more elaborate in character, a fact to be explained in part by the possibility of contrast and variety afforded by the use of a second color. This increased elaboration of design is the most distinctive difference in kind between the ornament of this and that of the preceding period. The decora- tion of Fig. l 2 is a careful attempt to fill a band of ornament with graceful and harmonious lines. Though the curves springing from the oblique hues in this design bear some resemblance to leaves, the motive of imitation hanlly enters in here, d’he shape of the field to be decorated and the artistic arrange- ment of lines within that field were (luitc evident ly uppc'rmost in the mind of the decorator. This design, therefore, should be assigned to the non-imitative class and l)ccause of its complex character to the second division of that class. ' Mr. Evanfs noted tlie beginnings of polychioinc painting in tlie preceding tOarlj’ Minoan HI period, op. cit. p. G. ^This vase bcaaiuse of its sturdy .shape I have assigned to thi.s Middle Minoan I class, though its decoration seems somewhat later. 14 TRAXSACTIOXS, DEPARTMENT OF AKCHAEOL()(iY, U. OF P. Lastly/ there is to l)e noted in the designs of tliis period an increase in naturalism. The tendrils in Fig. 12 and the leaflike design in Fig. 13 resemble nature more closely than did any design in the Early Minoan III Fig. 11, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 30.5, Fig. 5. Fig. 12, from B. S. A. 1902-3, Fig. 13, from Transactions I, IX, p. 303, Fig. 2. Part III, PI. XXV, A, Ph. II a. period, although now, as then, naturalistic patterns are formed from recti- linear and curvilinear motives. Middle Minoan II. The pottery of the succeeding division of the middle period is well known. It has long lieen termed “Kaniares w’are” after the local name of the cave on Mt. Ida, where it was first found. ^ It has attracted the attention of scholars because of the cpiantity in which it hasappeared (see table opp. p. 50) and because of the delicacy of its shapes, the richness of its color, and the harmony of its designs. In contrast with the thick clay and sturdy shapes of the preceding period we note here a clay as light and thin as that of a modern Haviland tea- cup. The cups of this “eggshell ware” show a variety of graceful shapes, which attests the high degree of technical skill to which the potter has attained (see, e. g., J. H. S., 1903, XXIII, PI. V). The ornamentation consists in some cases of relief work but more commonly of polychrome painted patterns applied to a dark body paint. The chief colors are white, orange, crimson, red, and yellow. Such perfection of technique implies a civilization far removed from * A more illuminating example of complex non-imitative Middle Minoan I design is shown in PI. I of B. S. A. 1904-1905, XI, which has been issued since this paper went to press. -See Parnassos, 1886, X, p. 339 ff. and Rom. Mitt. IX, p. 100, Mr. Dawkins has pointed out that this name cannot properly be used of both technique and period. See B. S. A. 1903-4, X, p. 192. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIA E ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 15 i k Fig. M, from J.II.S. 1901, XXI, PI. VII; ibid ]90;i, XXIII, I’ls. VI and VII; B. S. A. 190'2-d, IX, |). ;I0.'5, Fig. -I; and Mon. Anl. 189."), VI, PI. XI. 16 TRAXSACTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. primitive life. Similarly the designs of this ware imply an aesthetic taste far removed from primitive art. Occasionally, still, the ornament on these vases is applied in zones (Fig. 14 j), though more commonly in an undivided design. The classes into which the ornament of this period falls are three: the two kinds of iron-imitative designs — simple and complicated — which were found in the preceding period and the conventional naturalistic class, the ten- dencies toward which were seen in both the early Minoan III and the Middle Minoan I periods. Examples of this kind of design are shown in Fig. 14. Fig. 14 h is an excellent example of the way in which fiowerlike designs were made up of familiar geometric motives. The stem is a zigzag line, while the petals are represented by curls and the center by a dot. In later Mycenaean design this flower would be called degenerate or stylized. Here it seems to be a new invention. In Fig. 14 i another circular device of a dot surrounded by stamenlike rays is shown. In Fig. 14 /the decorative border design of the uppermost and lowest zones seems to be a stiff representation of buds or fruit and stems, though this design is Ciuite possibly a descendant of the running designs which characterize the Early Minoan III period. Among the conventional repmsentations of leaves the designs in Fig. 14, a-e, should be noted. This group of designs confirms the principle stated on page 12 that natural- istic designs do not begin as realistic reproductions of natural objects, but compared with the designs of the preceding period, thej^ show decided progress toward the achievement of a naturalistic style. It may be that the beginnings of this style should be assigned to this period. The decoration of the jar in PI. I, Fig. 2, is certainly very similar to the design of Fig. 1.^ However that may be, the conventional naturalistic motives of this period must be regarded as representing a stage of growth intermediate between the first steps toward naturalism in the Early Minoan III period and the fully developed naturalistic style of the Middle Minoan III period. Non-imitative designs of this period may be divided as before into two classes according to their comjilexity. Among the simple stock designs of this period are the following: quirks and dots. Figs. 15, 17 and 19; festoons. Fig. 16; spirals; the linear geometric ornaments of Fig. 17; the crescents in B. S. A. 1903-1904, X, p. 15, Fig. 4 a, ibid. p. 16, Fig. 6, a and c and Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, PI. XLHI, 2; concentric circles. Fig. 18; certain designs appropriate to weaving like those in Figs. 20 and 21; the waved lines and comb pattern in B. S. A. 1903-4, X, p. 16, Fig. 5, 1; various forms of ^ The lily in J. II. S. 1901, XXI, PL VI b, seems to be transitional between the Middle Minoan II and Middle Minoan III style. Its orange paint connects it with Middle Min- oan II vases while the realistic rendering of the flower is after the Middle Minoan III style. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 17 crosses and rosettes, Fig. 19 and Mon. Ant. 1895, VI, PI. XI, 27; B. S. A. 1903- 1904, X, p. 17, Fig. 6, m and b; Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, PI. XLII, 1; J. H. S. 1903, XXIII, PI. VI, 1, and the hooked ornaments of Fig. 22. Of many Fig. 15, from Transactions I, Fig. 16, from B. S. A. 1903-4, Part III, PI. XXV. XI, p. 15, Fig. 4. of these patterns nothing more need be said than that they occur. In case of others further comment is in place. Fig. 17, from Mon. Ant. 1895, VI, PI. IX. Fig. 18, from Mon. Ant. 1895, VI, PI. IX. The "comb pattern” in B. S. A. 1903-4, X, p. 16, Fig. 5, 1, occurs on Cretan neolithic ware, J. II. S. 1903, XXIII, PI. IV, 24 and 29. Fig. 19, from Mon. Ant. 1895, VI, Fig. 20, from Mon. jint. 1895, VI, PI. IX. PI. XL The crescents in B. S. A. 1903-4, X, p. 15, which reappear in frescoes of this period, are a motive which is characteristic of Samian ware. Poehlau' expressed his belief that this motive was known in Mycenaean art ami i\Ir. Alls lonischen und Itnlischcn Nekropolen, p. 65. IS TRANSACTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. ^lackenzie and Mr. Edgar^ recognized that this belief was confirmed by the crescents found on vases from Crete'and Melos. The crescent has also been found in the late Minoan I period. Again the cruciform ornaments^ cited are to be connected with both later IMycenaean and Samian design. On Samian vases the cross is commonly the central ornament of a latticed pattern similar to that in Fig. 21, a combination which, though not actually found in Middle Minoan II ware, is yet entirely in keeping with its character. Identically the same latticed pattern filled wdth Fig. 23, from J. H. S. 1901, XXI, PI. VI. Fig. 24, from B. S. A. 1903-4, X, p. 16, Fig. 5. crosses appears in Attic red-figured vases, especially as an ornament on cloth® Avhere Ionic motives might well be expected. The distinction between the simple and complicated classes of non-imita- tive designs is srimetimes slight and cannot always be made with certainty. Simple patterns such as spirals and quirks are used so much that they belong to the artist’s stock repertoire of patterns, while the complicated designs are rather the original composition of the artist. A pattern so original as that in Fig. 4 Avhich belongs to this period wmild certainly not be often copied. ' ./. II. S. 1903, XXIII, p. 179 note and Phylakopi, p. 122. ^Compare also the cruciform patterns on “Kamares” fragments from Phylakopi, Phylakopi, p. 149, Figs. 127-129, and those in J. H. S. 1901, XXI, p. 94, Fig. 28. ® Furtwangler-Peichhold, Griechische Vasenrnalerei, PL XX. Compare the embroid- red cloth represented in the Hagia Triada fresco in Mon. Ant. 1903, XIII, Part 1, PI. 10. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 19 Other designs which look original are shown in Figs. 23 and 24. But in some cases it is impossible to say whether a pattern was common or not. Again the method of combining simple stock motives may be so simple that it is difficult to say to which class the resulting design should be assigned. A row of dots would be counted as a simple design. But the decoration made up of dots and lines in J. H. S. 1901, XXI, PI. VII, 9, might well be regarded as a complex design. Some of the finest designs of this period combine conventional naturalistic with non-imitative ornament, as for example Fig. 25. With the exception of Fig. 2.5. from 5. ,S. 4. 1902-3, IX, p. 120, Fig. 7.5. the groups of three leaves which spring in pairs from the four corners of the design, this ornament is quite similar to that in Fig. 4 which was taken as Typical of the complicated designs of the non-imitative class. But from the addition of these leaves a mixed design results. Similar groups of leat'es spring from a circular motiA'’e in Fig. 14 e. They suggest such combinations of leaves and spirals as that in Furtwiingler and Loschcke, Myk. Thon. PI. VI, 31;^ Boehlau, op. cit. p. 54, Fig. 22; p. 55, Fig. 25 and p. 81, Fig. 36; Nau- kratis I, PI. VI, 3, II, PI. VII, 5 and Tanis 11, PI. XXVIII, 4. Here again Middle Minoan vases seem to have furnished prototyjies for the decoration both of Mycenaean (Late Minoan) vases and of the vases of Samos, Naukratis, and Daphnae. The artistic merit of the decoration of this period varies greatly. Some of the mixed designs like Fig. 25 and ,7. II. S. 1903, XXIII, PI. V, 1 and PI. VI, 3, rival in richness and harmony the designs of any later perioil of Cretan bronze age art. In other cases (Figs. IS, 26 and 27) the designs seem 'Compare the stateineiit.s of Hogarth and Weidi, J.II.S. 1901 , XXI, p. 97, that “Kamares” patteriis do not survive in the .Mycenaean style. .More analogies between the designs of these two period.s are noted later. 20 TRANSACTION'S, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. to have been less .successfully const met eel and a kind of distorted, fantastic ornament results. If, in oiir attempt to understand the designs of this period, we turn for light to other dc'corated objects than vases, we are disappointed to find the material at hand scanty. Middle Minoan frescoes have been found in small cpiantities both at Knossos and Phaistos,^ but they have added little to our knowledge of the decorative aP of this period. Another art. known to have flourished in this period is metalwork, some of the characteristics of which are reflected in vases. It is well known that the thin clay of Middle Minoan II cu])S, their straplike handles and their knobs made to look like metal rivets were affected by the potter with the purpose of making his ware resemble the more co.stly jiroducts of the goldsmith’s or silversmith’s art..^ Mr. Evans thinks that in the matter of design also, the potter was indebted to the worker in metal. The de.signs in B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, PI, II, 1 and in Fig. 4 he regards as derived from metalwork.® Put this is a matter of probable sunnise, not certainty, since so few examples of the metal decorations of this jDeriod have been preserved to us. Of another art, however, which flouri.shed in this period, traces have been found, and these traces we owe, as we owe the relics of the ceramic art, to the indestructible character of clay. Among the Mitldle Minoan II vases found beiR'ath the “olive press rooms” at Knossos were found clay seal impressions. I'wo of these are reproduced in B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, pp. 20 and 21, Figs. 9 and 10. If we examine the designs of these two seal impressions, we observe ele- ments not found in vases of this jieriod. First, in Fig. 9, the gem cutter’s ‘See B. S. /I. 1901-1902, VIII, p. 24, J. R. I. B. A. 1902-3, p. 109, Fig.s. 1 and 2, and Mon. Ant. 190.5, XIV, Part. 2, col. 403. ‘Compare Hogarth, B. S. A 1899-1900, VI, pp. 101 and 102; ibid. 1902-1903, IX, p. 314, and Mon. Ant. 1903, XII, col. 113. 2 See B. S. .1. 1902-3, IX, p. 20. Fig. 20, from Mon. Ant. 1895, VI, PI. IX, 1. Fig. 27, from Mon. Ant. 1895, VI, PI. IX. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 21 attempt to suggest by a wild goat and plant a scene from the outdoor world attracts attention. Nothing so naturalistic or so original has appeared on vases. Equally interesting is the design of the other seal. For here amid spirals, scrolls, quatrefoil rosettes and other decorative motives familiar to us from vases of this period apjiears a conventional flower which resembles the papyrus blossoms known in contemporary Egyptian art,^ and in later stages of Cretan art.^ Again, among the clay sealings found in the remains of a Middle Minoan II building to the southeast of the Knossos palace was one {B. S. A. 1901-2, VIII, p. 106, Fig. 63) which showed a lily design derived from a Xllth dynasty scarab and two others {loc. cit. p. 107, Figs. 64 and 65) which bore the design of the sacred double axe. Both of these motives appear in the following period on vases. Two conclusions may be drawn: first, that the gem cutter’s art was subject to Egyptian influence in this period,® and second, that the seals of this period anticipate the motives of later vases. The designs of seal stones seem in some cases to have furnished inspiration to the vase painters of this period. The decoration of the jar in PI. I, Fig. 1 , is obviously adapted from the gem cutter’s art as Sig. Pernier points out {Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, col. 459). The circle which confines the main part of the decoration is equivalent to the field of a seal while the spiraliform pattern within is such as is commonly used for decorating seals. Middle Minoan III. We come now to the Middle Minoan III period, the era of the beginning of the new palace at Knossos. At the first glance over the material available for a study of the design of this period we observe that, contrary to what has before been the case, painted vases are less numerous than other decorated objects. Our knowledge of the character and tendencies of the art of this period would be far less complete than it is, were it not for the lucky circumstance which pre- served the collection of small faience objects in the “Temple Repositories” of the Knossos palace. These well-known repositories included the appurte- nances of a shrine of the snake goddess, conspicuous among which were the figures of the goddess herself and of her votaries. There were also found a number of votive robes and a series of small models of shells, fruit and flowers 'Compare, f . g., the papyrus blo.ssoms from a Beiii Hasan wall painting in Borohardt, Die ugijptische P jlanzc.nsdule , p. 27, Fig. 46, and the later Ptolemaic treatment of the flower in ibid. p. 42, Fig. 68. ''See PL II. ’ For further evidence of the influence of Llgyptiaii XII the tlyna.sty scarabs on seals of this period see A. . I. lOvan.s, Cretan PicUxjraphx, p. .'iS, Fig. 49, and Pernier in d/o». .\nt. 190.5, XIV, Part 2, col. 446. 22 TRAXSACTIOXS, DEPARTMEXT of ARCHAEOLOGA', u. of p. which had served as offerings or as ornaments of the shrined Since these faience objects are in so many cases painted with patterns similar to those found on vases and since their decoration involves no principle foreign to vase- painting, it will be well to consider their designs along with those of the painted A'ases of the period, as soon as we shall have reviewed the general characteristics of Middle Minoan III ware. Vases of this period may frequently be recognized by their dull purple slip and powdery white paint.^ They differ, therefore, from the ware of the preceding period in the loss of the fine black glaze ground and the decline of polychrome decoration. From the late Minoan I vases, on the other hand, they are distinguished by the use of white as the usual color for the main design instead of for mere accessories of the decoration. The designs are applied to the field to be decorated with absolute free- dom (see, e. g.. Fig. 1). This free treatment of the design goes hand in hand with the achievement of a purely naturalistic style. If we follow the order of the classification made on page 6, we shall begin our study of Middle Minoan III ornament with designs of the highly natural- istic style of which Fig. 1 furnishes a good example. It marks the acme of naturalism in Cretan vase painting. Ecpially free aiul lifelike are the grass pattern in B. 8. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 50, Fig. 26 d, and the crocuses in ibid. 1903-4, Fig. 28, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 82, Fig. 58. X, p. 17, Fig. 6 b, and in Fig. 28, where they serve as decoration of the votive garments of the snake goddess. Most of the ornaments of the shrine bear witness to the same love of nature. Among them are models in the round of fruit, flowers, flying fish, and shells. Shells seem to have been a favorite decoration. Hundreds of real shells of the varieties still known in the island were recovered from this shrine alone. The shell appears also on seal stones (B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 56, Fig. 34) and as an ornament on a faience bowl (ibid. p. 73, Fig. 51). Now it is noteworthy that many of the faience objects from this shrine are to be closely connected with Egyptian faience work. Mr. Evans (B. 8. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 63) has pointed out the following affinities: (1) the glaze on these ornaments is similar to that on Egyptian porcelain; (2) the faience ' See B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, pp. 38-94. * See A. J. Evans, B. S. A. 1903-4, X, p. 8. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 23 beads found in the temple repositories are like the Egyptian beads of the Xllth and Xlllth dynasties in Egypt, except for a slightly smaller perfora- tion; (3) the signs found on the pieces for inlay correspond to those used by Egyptian inlayers, ^ and (4) Egyptian designs are copied in Cretan art. This evidence proves the existence of Egyptian influence in Crete during the Middle Minoan III period. Of the two types of flowers, the crocus and the lily, which are most char- acteristic of the designs of this period, one, the lily, is known in Xllth dynasty Egyptian art,^ while the other, the crocus, is not unlike some representations of the Egyptian lotus.® But in Egyptian art these flowers belong commonly to large wall paintings, the purpose of which was to attest the deeds of rulers. The desire for decorative effect was therefore subservdent to the desire for historical records. The flowers which are introduced into such paintings represent commonly the background for fowling scenes or the like. Though drawn with the greatest fidelity to nature, they are crowded in stiff rows or groups into their place in the larger scene. Now when Cretan artists came to borrow types of flowers from Egypt they applied them to their vases with the greatest freedom and with a sense for decorative effect, trained by long practice in non-imitative and conventional naturalistic designs. Cretan flower types are for this reason more difficult to assign to a definite botanical species than Egyptian types, though they give a general effect which is more realistic. A case in point is Fig. 29 which, as Mr. Evans has pointed out,^ is an adaptation of the lotus clumps of Egyptian art.® Here the method of arrang- Fig. 29, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 82, Fig. 58. ing the flowers is the same as in Egyptian art, yet every trace of Egyptian stiffness is gone. Generally, however, methods of combining and arranging flowers were not borrowed from Egypt.® On another votive robe from the snake goddess shrine {B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, p. 82, Fig. 58) detached blossoms ‘ But these Egyptian inlayers lived in the time of either the early dynasties or of the new empire. ^ See Borchardt, Die dgyptische Pflanzensdule, p. 18, Fig. .30, and Petrie, Ilairara, Biahmu and Arsinoe, PI. 27, 5 and 6. ® See Beni Hasan I, PI. XII, lower register. *B.S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 83. ®Seee.g. Petrie, Decorative Art, p. 50, Fig. 128. * See below, p. 28. 24 TRANSACTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCPIAEOLOGY, U. OF P. are painted in rows, while on the cup in B. S. A. 1903-1904, X, p. 17, Fig. 6 b, they are scattered loosely.* Conventional naturalistic designs are not numerous in this period. Fig. 30 shows one instam^e of this kind — a fern pattern — which is obviously derived from such patterns as those in Fig. 14 6 and c. Other instances of conven- tional representations of natural objects occur among the faience ornaments of the temple repositories. One is the representation of rocks or of the natural surface of the ground which appears among the models of marine life in B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, p. 67, Fig. 46. With it should be associated a pattern to which the name rock-work pattern has been given. It is used in marine scenes^ and it frequently defines the field of ornament in later designs 'C/. the restoration of the lily fresco in Phylakopi, p. 76, Fig. 64. The plaster fragment from Thera in Perrot and Chipiez, Ilistoire de I’art, VI, p. 537, Fig. 211, and the inlaid dagger from Mycenae in ibid. PI. XIX, opp. p. 784. ^ See R. C. Bosanquet, Phylakopi, p. 70 and A. J. Evans, The Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos, p. 156. Fig. 30, from J. H. S. 1903, XXIII, p. 178, Fig. 5. Fig. 31, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 67, Fig. 44. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 25 on vases. ^ Another is the scale pattern used in the faience relief of a wild goat {B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, PI. Ill) for the same purpose of representing the sur- face of the ground. It recurs in later periods (see below, p. 33), but with no imitative purpose. The third conventional naturalistic ornament from the shrine is the faience pendant in Fig. 31. The two flowers at the sides of this ornament with curving petals and solid central lobe resemble the conventional Egyptian type of lily. But here there is no more naturalistic treatment of the motive than is found in Egypt. The manner in which a third lobe is added in the center of the ornament to complete the symmetry of the design is worth noticing. It makes the central part of the jiendant to consist of which we shall And as a separate ornament on both vases and frescoes of later periods.^ Lastly, among the imitative designs of this period should be mentioned two sacral patterns, the shield and the double axe. The former, which orna- ments the rim of a faience bowl of this period {B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, p. 72, Fig. 49) is a decorative motive which appears frequently in later stages of Cretan art.® Turning now to the non-imitative designs of this period we note first of all the quirk {B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, p. 75, Fig. 54 a and b), the persistent appearance of which in all these early periods of Cretan ornament is a strong argument for continuous native development. On the upper and lower bands of ornament from the jug in Fig. 32 — which may, however, be aMelian Fig. 32, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 50, Fig. 26. importation — and in ./. II. S. 1903, XXIII, p. 189, Fig. 8, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, appear spirals and a pattern called liy Mr. Mackenzie {ibid. pp. IGO and 181) the ripple motive and derived by him from the rippled surface of neolithic ware. This derivation seems less probable now that our knowledge of Early and Middle Minoan pottery is mon^ extensive, for the ripple motive does not appear to have been in use during these early periods. Among the more complex patterns of the non-imitative class are two ' See Fig. 39. ^ See J. R. I. B. A. 1902-3, p. 130, Fig. 81, Mykcnische Vascn, PI. I, 1, and below, p. .39. ^ See Ha.sting.s, A. J. A. 1905, IX, j). 285. 26 TRANSACTIOXS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. designs from tlie voti\'e robes of the snake goddess (Fig. 33 and B. S. A. 1902- 1903, p. 77, Fig. 56b). The latter linear design is similar to a latticed pattern on a fresco from Knossos (J. R. I. B. A. 1902-1903, p. 129, No. 76) and to the latticed tlecoration of the preceding period. The pattern on the votive l)elt in Fig. 33 is also reminiscent of Middle Minoan II design. The class of mixep. p. 1 It. 42 TRANSACTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGT, U. OF P. metal the lironze vessels from the northwest building at Knossos and the swords from the Zafer Papoura graves bear witness. The more noteworthy ornaments on these, the “leaf pattern” {B. S. A. 1902-1903, IX, p. 124, Fig. 77), the ivy leaf (ibid. p. 126, Fig. SO), a conventional lily {ibid. p. 127, Fig. 81), AVAr /mm Fig. 60. Designs on Sherds from Knossos Houses. and spirals {Prehistoric Tombs, p. 56, Fig. 58) arc frecpient in vase painting. The design of wild goats and lions on the agate sword handle from a Zafer Papoura tomb {Prehistoric Tombs, p. 57, Fig. 59) shows more affinity for the Fig. 6], from B. S. A. 1903-4, X, p. 206, Fig. 4. gem cutter’s art , in which animals are frecjuent subjects. The ground of this scene, however, is indicated by a conventional representation of rocks, similar to that in fresco painting, from which the more cursory representation of the vase painter was adopted. Mr. Evans thinks that the “leaf pattern” was taken^ over by potters from metal vases. This is the natural course of events. Prehistoric Tombs, pp. 121 and 122. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 43 that less costly products should imitate the more costly, yet the ease with which this pattern can be applied with the brush and the fact that it appears on a Zakro vase in the Late Minoan I period make it seem possible that its use in ceramic art is as ancient as its connection with metal vases. In the Zafer Papoura graves near Ivnossos, considerable quantities of jewelry were found of the types known at Phaistos, Mycenae and elsewhere. In some cases (e. g., grave 36, Prehistoric Tombs, p. 58, Fig. 60) these jewels were found in graves assigned to the Late Minoan II period. But since the majority of these gold ornaments belongs in the Late Minoan III period, they will be considered later as an undivided group. Most closely akin to the ceramic art in method is the art of fresco painting, especially during this Late Minoan II period. The larger vases presented as extended a field for decoration as that occupied by fresco pictures. Such jars as that in PI. II were very likely made to match the decoration of the room in which they stood. Further, the smaller patterns on “miniature” frescoes, borders, and other small areas of painted plaster offer many analogies to the patterns used on vases. On Late Minoan II frescoes appear purely naturalistic motives, like the lily {B. S. A. 1901-1902, VIII, p. 92), sprays of leaves {ibid. p. 110), grasses {B. S. A. VII, p. 59), the ivy leaf (J. R. I. B. A. 1902, p. 129, Fig. 71) and marine designs {B. S. A. 1901-1902, VIII, p. 58), as well as conventional naturalistic designs like marguerites (J. R. I. B. A. 1902, PI. I), papyrus blossoms p. 125, Fig. 63), the leaf pattern (ibid. p. 123, Fig. 50),heartshaped leaves with flowerlike appendages like those in Fig. 36 (ibid. p. 117, Fig. 40, p. 125, Fig. 62 and p. 130, Fig. 81) and several designs like the double axe and horns of worship (ibid. PI. II). Among the non-imitative designs are the scale patterns of Figs. 57-59 with various central ornaments (ibid. p. 123, Fig. 52 and p. 128, Fig. 69), spiraliform ornaments of different types, including the “horned spiral” (ibid. p. 121, Figs. 45 and 46) — which may well have arisen in the effort of the fresco painter to adapt a spiraliform design to the square field of a ceiling or wall — the spiral with a rosette center (ibid. p. 120, Fig. 43), the checkerboard pattern (ibid. PI. II), and various simple linear patterns, known on Late Minoan I and Late Minoan II vases. Thus the repertoires of the potter and the painter of frescoes are largely identical. The most characteristic patterns of the vases of this period, like the scale pattern and the ivy leaf types, are conspicuous in the designs of frescoes. Only one pattern on painted plaster — the tooth ornament — (ibid. p. 127, Figs. 64-67) does not appear on vases. It is quite likely that for palace products at least, the same artists were emjdoyed to decorate both walls and vases. However that may be, it is impossil)lc to ascribe to eitln'r vases or fresco painting a predominant influence in s(‘tting th(' style of deco- ration. 44 TRAXSACTIUXS, DEPARTMEXT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. Late Mixoax HI. And now, finally, we come to that period of “Mycenaean” culture widely known from other sites than Crete. During this period a style of ornamenta- tion prevailed, which, compared with that used in preceding periods, is lifeless’ and uninteresting, but which, nevertheless, has given to most people their itlea of Mycenaean art . In this period are included two groups of vases. The one stands at the very beginning of the period and marks the transition from Late Minoanll style; the other stands at the end of the period and marks the lowest ebb of Myce- naean art just prior to the rise of the geometric style. The one group includes pottery from block y in Palaikastro (see table), from the Zafer Papoura graves at Knossos, and from the necropolis at Phaistos (see table). It is charac- terized by the “close” style, ^ the beginnings of which go back to the preceding period (see p. 34). The other group is made up largely of the ceramic remains of the “scpiatter” civilization at Knossos and Palaikastro. It is marked l)y the frequency of the degenerate octopus ornament. In this later period there is a falling off in the ciuality of both clay and paint. The bugelkanne is again a common shape. ^ Pew pure naturalistic designs are in use during this period. The most lifelike f)f the decorative motives which occur are fishes and birds (Fig. 78, Mon. Ant. I, Part 2, PI. 1] J. H. S. 1903, XXIII, p. 198, Fig. 14; Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, PI. XXVIII; Myk. Vas. PI. XIV, 87). Both of these motives have occurred occasionally in earlier Cretan art. A fish is the main decorative motive on a Middle Minoan II vase in Mon. Ant. 1895, VI, PI. IX, 8, and on a cup of the same period from Gournia. It figures again on a Knossos vase-fragment (B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 115) of the Late Minoan II style and in the frescoes and among the faience models of the later palace. Birds also are not unknown in earlier art (J. II. S. XXIII, p. 198, Fig. 14). But nowhere * B. S. A. 1902-.3, IX, pp. .316 and 317. ■See Prehistoric Tombs, p. 121. Fig. 02, from B. S. .4. 1902-3, IX, p. 318, Fig. 17. EDITH H. HALL — DECOKATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 45 in earlier art do these motives assume the prominent position in the jiotter’s repertoire Avhich they hold during this period. In view of the frequency with which they appear and of the unnatural juxtaposition into which they are brought (e. g., Mon. Ant. 1891, I, Part 2, PI. I and ibid. 1905, XIV, PI. ■VXXVII) they may be regarded as symbolical of the heavens and of the Fig. 63, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 315, Fig. 14. Fig. 64, from B. S. .4. 1902-3, IX, p. 319, Fig. 19. sea.* Something of this symbolical meaning may have still been attached to birds and fishes in the geometric period when they again appear in the midst of a purely geometric style {Athen. Mitt. 1903, XXVIII, PI. Ill, — opp. p. 104, — 2; PI. VI, 2 — opp. p. 105 — and PI. XXXII, 2, — after p. 192, — etc.). Fig. 65, from B. S. A. 1902-3, IX, p. 319, Fig. IS. The class of design most characteristic of this period is the convention- alized naturalistic class. In Fig. 52, d, /, g, h and j, are shown various shorthand methods of rendering flowers. The most naturalistic Late Minoan III flower- type is Fig. 52 h, which is not far removed from the lily in Fig. 1. In the next stage of degeneration, the row of stamens becomes a row of dots, while the center of the flower is indicated by curving cross-lines (Fig. 52 j) or by more 'Compare the above mentioned view of Sig. Savignoni in Mon. .\nt. 1905, I’ait 2, XIV, col. .572 tf. 4G TRANSACTIOXS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. dots (Fig. 52 g). Finally this cursory rendering of flowers became so habitual with the potter that whenever two lines in his design made an angle, he could not resist filling in the angle with cross-lines as if it were a bud (Figs. 63-65 Apx- 1604, PI. I, and Prehistoric Toinhs, p. 22, Fig. 14, etc.). In Fig. 65 dots are retained to indicate stamens. The papyrus type of flower is some- times clearly distinguishable from the lily (Fig. 66, Prehistoric Tombs, p. 91, Fig. 102, and Mon. Ant. 1891, I, Part 2, PI. I, 3). The smaller flowers between the papyrus leaves in Fig. 66 will be recognized as the equivalent of the central ornament in the semicircular designs of PI. III. The ends of this Fig. 67, from B. S. .4. 1902-3, Fig. 68, from Myk. Fas. IX, p. 214, Fig. 5. p. 23, Fig. 13. ornament are in one case joined below in a meaningless circle, while the stamens, leaves and stem are indicated in the linear method of the period. To the conventionalized naturalistic class belong also the debased forms of octopus and Triton shell prevalent in this period. In Fig. 67 the once life- like octopus has been reduced “to a mere symmetrical center to a continuous series of curves.”^ The ornament in Fig. 68 is generally regarded as a debased form of mure.x or Triton shell. ^ ^ Prehistoric Tombs, p. 127. ^See Schliemann, Mycenae, p. 138 note; Fabricius in Tiryns, p. 349; Hogarth, J. H. S. XXII, p. 337 and Fig. 16, and Evans, Prehistoric Tombs, p. 128. EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE ART OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 47 Finally, among the conventionalized naturalistic designs of this period should be mentioned the “rock-work” pattern which is used both to indicate the surface of ground, as in Prehistoric Tombs, p. 91, Fig. 102, and to fill in space, as in Mon. Ant. 1905, etc. In the latter case it receives the same cross-lined, geometric style of treatment as that which flowers of this period undergo. Of the non-imitative designs with which we have become familiar only a few simple motives remain in use. These are the spiral, the checkerboard pattern {Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, PI. XXXVII), and the quirk. The linked spiral design in Prehistoric Tombs, p. 91, Fig. 102a, is evidently, as Mr. Evans has pointed out {ibid. p. 90), an adaptation of designs on contemporary Egyptian chests and ceilings. Among the important objects belonging to this Late Minoan III period are numbers of small gold and paste ornaments closely analogous to those which have been found at Spata, Dimini, lalysos, and Mycenae (see table, opp. p. 50). These finds come mainly from the Zafer Papoura graves near Knossos and from the necropolis at Phaistos. The motives chiefly used for their decoration are the following: a pair of nautili similar to those which appear on Late Minoan I vases, arranged to fill a rectangular area {Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, col. 595, Fig. 59, and Prehistoric Tombs, p. 130, Fig. 119); butterflies {Mon. Ant. XIV, Part 2, col. 601, Fig. 66); flowers {ibid. col. 597, Fig. 61, and Prehistoric Tombs, p. 76, Fig. 85, and p. 130, Fig. 119); pairs of spreading petals {Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, col. 599, Fig. 62) ; rosettes {ibid, and col. 601, Fig. 63, and Prehistoric Tombs, p. 130, Fig. 119); conven- tionalized lilies {Mon. Ant. XIV, Part 2, col. 609, Fig. 78) leaves of the ivy or heartshaped type with central ornaments and triangular attachments to fill the intervals between the leaves {^ibid. col. 611, Fig. 80, and col. 614, Fig. 81) ; spirals with similar attachments {;ibid. col. 609, Fig. 78) ; an ornament consisting of a single pendant spiral or curl {ibid. col. 614, Fig. 82); lobes of the scale pattern of Fig. 62 {ibid. Fig. 83); and the sacred shield {Prehistoric Tombs, p. 44, Fig. 41). The designs of these small ornaments arc exactly those with which we have become familiar on vases. Only one or two, the pendant curl and the butterfly, are foreign to the potter’s repertoire of patterns. The prevalence of these designs in these minor arts of gold and paste ornaments may have aided in fixing the type of such motives as the conventional lily, the ivy leaf and the nautilus. Goldsmiths are not so liable to careless workmanship as potters. In some cases a reacting influence from the designs of jewelry may have been 'Compare Schliemann, Mycenae, p. No. 278 and p. 199, No. 30:i. anil B. C. II. II, PI. XV, 3, 4 and 5. 48 TRANSACTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, U. OF P. exerted on vases. The strings of buds in Mijk. Vas. PI. XXXIV, 336, look lik(‘ the necklace of gold lieads in the form of buds which is shown in Mon. An(. 190.3, XIV, Part 2, col. 597, Fig. 61. Conclusion. The designs which we have examined record some two thousand years of artistic development. At the lieginning of this period man’s instinct for balance, rhythm, aiul harmony is satisfied by the simplest linear geometric ornament, notably by the zigzag. The established use of the brush is influential in the transfonnation of this rectilinear into curvilinear ornament and many exj)eriments in curvilinear decoration follow in the Early Minoan III period. Among them are motives which look like natural objects and gratify the primitive instinct for imitative art. Conventional naturalistic designs, thus casually begun, continue throughout the Middle Minoan II period with growing realism; but more typical now is non-imitative ornament, which includes a large variety of simple motives as well as complex; designs constructed for the sake of balance, rhythm, and harmony. Some of these non-imitative designs reach a high degree of artistic merit, while others are crude and fantastic. The prevalence of this class of design is parallel to the use of polychromy. In the Middle Minoan III period pure naturalistic designs supersede non-imitative designs. Their introduction is to be attributed in part, to Egyptian influence, but Cretan designers, trained by long practice in artistic arrangement of line and color, are able to secure more naturalistic as well as more decorative effects than Egyptian artists. This change to a naturalistic style is effected on jiottery which for technical reasons must be regarded as the direct descendant of Middle Minoan I and II ware. Moreover, the non-imitative patterns of preceding periods are frequent still, so that no violent break can be assumed before the introduction of the naturalistic style. In the succeeding Late Minoan I period the same naturalistic style prevails, and various new ways of combining naturalistic motives are invented. A large stock of non-imitative motives inherited from the early and middle periods are also in use. In the period of the great palaces at Knossos and Phaistos, conventional and con- ventionalized flowers replace, in part, naturalistic motives. The beginning of a tendency to divide up the fields into small areas is observable. In the Late Minoan III period, designs are neither adapted from nature nor invented, but iiLstead debased forms of naturalistic motives are unintelligently copied. The artist’s chief concern is to pack with ornament the panels or zones into which he divides his fields. Such a system of decoration not only indicates lack of artistic originality but also heralds the approach of a purely geometric style. The statement of Professors Furtwiingler and Loscheke quoted on page 5 had rc'fcrence, it will be remembered, to vases with lustrous paint. This class EDITH H. HALL — DECORATIVE \RT OF CRETE IN THE BRONZE AGE. 49 of vases is in general equivalent to the vases of the three Late Minoan periods, when naturalistic designs prevailed over every other kind of orna- ment. Consequently the statement that these designs were in the main naturalistic is quite in accord with what we have found to be true. But the derivation from weaving of the non-imitative motives used during this period is not now plausible, for it is clear that the quirk, the ripple motive, the festoon, and most, in fact, of the non-imitative patterns, were native to vases. Moreover, imless due importance is attached to the earlier, non-imitative designs, the most characteristic features of “Mycenaean” ornament will not be rightly understood. For the skill which artists of the Late Minoan periods display both in arranging naturalistic motives with a maximum of decorative effect and in combining imitative and non-imitative motives with a maximum of lifelike effect, must be attributed to their inheritance from earlier periods when designs were made solely for the sake of balance, rhythm, and harmony of line. Edith H. Hall. •}.* V, \ , , ■ ‘ TABLE GIVING CLASSIFICATION OF CRETAN BRONZE AGE DESIGN. d S S 3 ^- 6 - 3 p 5 ® tad PLATE I. Two decorated jars of the Middle Minoan II per- iod. Erom Mon. Ant., 1905, XIV, Part II, PI. XXV. .1 axAJ*! -^gq; II asoaiM albbilVi eiil io STisr Ijo.ts'iooal) owT .ra ,11 TXB^. ,ViZ MQI .xroM oxot^I .boi .YZX ■ e\> Two Decorated Jars of the Middle Minoan II Period From Mon. Ant. 1905, XIV, Part 2, PL XXXV. PLATE II. Decorated Vase of the Late Minoan II period. From the British School Annual, 1902-3, IX, p. 139, Fig. 88. .11 li'TAJu ..boi'jsq II nGo.ajl/L oieJ ssh io s&sY LsjS'rooeCI .681 -C[ ,XI ,8-£0(il foodo8 daili'iSE sdt moiH .88 .gtH TRANS. DEPT. ARCH. UNIV, PA., VOL. II. PL. II. Decouated Vase, Late Minoan II rEuion. Heptoduced from the British School Annual, lUO'd-S, IX, p. L‘^9, 88. PLATE III. Decorated Vase of the Late Minoau II period From Prehistoric Tombs, p. 159, Fig. 144. .Ill sTAJs; boi'iscr 11 ifRoniM ■Ml .gri; oIrJ &iit lo easiV boIjj’iooDi! 5GSI .q rwri TRANS. DEPT. ARCH. UNiV. PA., VOL, I!. PL. III. Dr:coi{ATKi> V..\sE of I, ate Mixoax II 1’euioii. I'l'Oin J’nliislorir 'I'onih.’!. p. I.'i!), I' if;'. I I I. •• V V. . ♦ Wri- $ , . 'S >'■ J' 4 '.I; a ■B • V it ■ > i- • 9 :' ’ f ... r I ■i- ( 1 1 •• tLL. GETTY CENTER LIBRARY ‘ * 3 3125 00030 156 -.■1 m i: « 'i' V a,V' i»W * . t