154/189 293) are not well proportioned, neither do they combine agreeably with the curves of the vase; but the accompanying cup (fig. 294), and a cruet belonging to the same service (fig. 295), are very happily conceived, and have much purity of form. These vessels of engraved and _repousse_ gold and silver, some representing hunting scenes and incidents of battle, were imitated by Phoenician craftsmen, and, being exported to Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, carried Egyptian patterns and subjects into distant lands. The passion for precious metals was pushed to such extremes under the reigns of the Ramessides that it was no longer enough to use them only at table. |