In fact, this
Repository was a perfect treasure-house of objects in faience; but
in the second cist such objects were wanting, with the exception
that a missing portion of the Snake Goddess was found, the place
of the faience being taken by gold-foil and crystal plaques.
Some of the small faience reliefs are of particularly exquisite
design and execution, particularly one of a Cretan wild-goat and
her young, the subject being executed in pale green, with dark
sepia markings, and characterized by great directness and naturalism
of treatment. Most interesting, however, were the figures of the
Snake Goddess and her votaresses. The goddess is 13-1/2 inches in
height. She wears a high tiara of purplish-brown, with a white
border, and her dress consists of a richly embroidered jacket,
with laced bodice, and a skirt with a short double _panier_ or
apron. Her hair is dressed in a fringe above her forehead, and
falls behind on her neck and shoulders; the eyes and eyebrows are
black, and the ears are of extraordinary size; the bust is almost
entirely bare. But the curious feature of the little figure is
that around her are coiled three snakes. One, which is grasped in
the right hand, passes up the arm, descends behind the shoulders
and down the left arm to the hand, which holds the tail. Two other
snakes are interlaced around her hips, and a fourth coils itself
around the high tiara.
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