HOLMES.] 



HANDLED GROUP OF WARE. 



93 



It will be observed that the liandles are rarely wholly plain. Each 

 loop is supplied with one or more rings or ring-like fillets, or with 

 small nodes, generally near the most prominent pai't of the curve or 

 arch. By the study of a large number of specimens I am able to 

 trace these puzzling features to their origin. They are the repre- 

 sentatives of life forms which were originally modeled in full detail 

 and which are still so modeled m many cases. The nodes and like 

 features are atrophied heads, hands, or feet, and in some cases are 

 marked with indentations that refer to the eyes or to the fingers or 

 toes, and the round fillets stand for the arms and legs of animals, or, if 

 notched in peculiar ways, may be referred to other originals, such as 

 the mouths of fishes or the .spines of crabs. Examples could be given 

 showing all stages of the progress of simplification. 



In Fig. 131 I present a fine example of the horizontal loop, in 

 which the opposite ends are supported by grotesque animal figures, 

 applied, however, in a way not detrimental to the grace and simplic- 

 ity of the vessel. 



An example shown in Fig. 132 is of especial interest in this con- 

 nection. The ornament upon the handle serves as a link between 



