Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/357

Furniture. 319 content with such a seat (Vol. I., Fig. 71). The figures of Izdubar and Hea-bani are there introduced between the uprights of Samas's stool. One of the most complex and effective of all these examples of decorative art is the throne upon which Sennacherib is seated before the captured city of Lachish (Fig. 47). The space between the uprights is occupied by three rows of small male figures, who with their uplifted arms and heads gently thrown back, seem to bear the weight of the cross pieces. This naive device is also to be met with in the sculptures of Persia ; it is suggestive of the absolute power which places the king so far above his subjects that nothing is left for them but to support and add to the edifice of his grandeur. 1 Bronze and wood were not the only materials used in these objects of regal luxury. As in the throne of Solomon, 2 the glory of gold and the creamy whiteness of ivory were mingled with the sombre tones of bronze. This is proved by the thrones from Van, and it was noticed by the explorers of the Assyrian ruins ; small fragments of ivory were mixed with the pieces of bronze that have been recognized as the debris of furniture. 3 Some pieces of rock-crystal, found in the palace of Sennacherib, appear also to have helped to ornament a chair. 4 It is easy to guess how ivory was used on these objects. Look at the throne of Sennacherib (Fig. 47), the couch of Assurnazirpal, the table on which his cup is placed and the high chair of his queen (Fig. 127). The cross-bars and uprights are divided into numerous small panels or divisions ; each panel may have inframed a plaque of carved ivory. Were all these plaques made in Mesopotamia ? or were they imported from Phoenicia and Egypt ? The frankly Egyptian character of some among the tablets we have reproduced (see Vol I. Figs. 129 and 130; and above, Figs. 57, 58 and 59) forbid us 1 This motive was by no means rare. Some more examples will be found repro- duced in Layard, Nineveh, vol. ii. p. 301. At Malthaï there are human figures between the uprights of the throne on which the second deity is seated. They may be seen more clearly in Place's large plate (No. 45), than in our necessarily small engraving. 2 1 Kings x. 18. 3 Layard, Discoveries, p. 198; Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, pp. 431, 432. 4 George Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, p. 432.