METALLURGY. 363 stone crater in which we recognized the copy of a similar object in metal (Figs. 21 and 23). In some cases they end in a simple finial of very good proportion and happy design. The one here reproduced (Fig. 281) must have belonged to some great bronze vase. On the other hand, in the smaller silver vessels found at Curium, the handles were of extreme simplicity in design but of a graceful curve. A cup without a foot and with swelling sides recalls certain silver vases found in Egypt (Fig. 285). The Phcenicain artisans understood how to get a good effect by the combination of different materials. In one of the subterranean chambers in the temple of FIG. 279. Part of the riin and handle of a bronze vessel. New York Museum. Diameter of the vessel's mouth 16 inches. Curium three alabastrons in rock crystal were found. The largest of the three had a gold stopper and lid, the latter attached to the vase by a light chain of the same metal (Fig. 286). The agate head of a sceptre was found in the same place ; it must once have been mounted either in silver or gold. Another object (Fig. 287) found in the same cachette may have been the end of a sceptre ; it is a bronze tube ending in three bull's heads. Here the material is commoner in itself, but it was embellished with crystals an4 gems. In this our study of that Phoenician metal- work which was so
