WHENEVER Homer mentions a work of exquisite handicraft he attributes it to the Phœnicians. It is Phœnician women who stain with purple the ivory check-pieces for horses’ bits; the great mixing bowl offered by Achilles as a prize at the funeral games was the work of Phœnicians. It is no wonder then that the island of Cyprus, situated just off the Phœnician coast, should have yielded beautiful examples of metal work. From time immemorial Cyprian metallurgists must have been in touch with Phœnician craftsmen on the mainland, and have borrowed heavily both from their skilled technical methods and from their ample and varied repertoire of designs. They worked in gold and silver as well as in bronze, and treasures containing necklaces, bracelets and earrings have been unearthed both at Enkomi and at Curium. When, in the fifth century B. C., Athenian artists brought under the control of their exquisite taste the exuberant art of the East, their influence was felt at Cyprus, and earrings as well as other gold work underwent a transformation.
Image Number: 26387
The Museum is fortunate in having received in January, through the generosity of Mrs. William Boyce Thompson, a pair of Cyprian earrings made in this period. They consist of circlets of gold, plain at the tip, twisted at the central part, and terminating in bulls’ heads. The small end passes through a loop below the head, and a foliate collar makes a graceful transition from the spiral wire to the neck of the animal. The eyes, now missing, were probably rendered in enamel. Curly forelocks and shaggy hairs below the ears give a naturalistic touch but the modelling is restrained and formalized enough to suggest a date slightly anterior to the end of the fifth century A. D.
E. H. D.