Now were built the Throne Room and its antechamber, and the Royal
Villa with its dais and throne and columned hall, while the walls
of the completed palace were covered with the splendid frescoes
of whose beauties the Cup-Bearer and the spectators watching the
games give us evidence. The reliefs in hard plaster, such as the
bull's head and the King with the peacock plumes, show the style
of decoration which gave variety on the walls to the paintings on
the flat. In pottery the change of style and decoration is gradual,
but quite pronounced. The chief characteristic of the time is the
fabrication of large decorated vases and _pithoi_, such as the
beautiful papyrus relief vase of the Royal Villa, nearly 4 feet
in height (Plate XXIII.; see also Plate XXX.). Naturalism still
survives in occasional designs, but the bulk of the design is
conventional, and the composition of the various elements is often
extremely skilful. A typical form of vessel of this period is the
long narrow strainer, which is borne by the Cup-Bearer in the palace
fresco, and of which various specimens have been found. In many
cases these strainers were made of variegated marble, though pottery
was also used for them.
The bronze vessels from the north-west house at Knossos, and the
swords from the earlier Zafer Papoura graves, testify to the skill
with which metal was wrought.
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