II Representational Motifs
in Minoan Pottery
and Seals (Cont.) - Notes -- Abbreviations

The amount of ceramic material from the palatial Early Kamares phase and from the Provincial phase 2 is rather limited. No "pictorial" pottery motifs datable to this phase have yet been found. There are, however, several "pictorialized" motifs as, for example, a crocus on a well-known cup from Knossos, Fig. 28 [WM 10 (viii) 3]. The motif consist of three elements radiating from a small circle. Thin leaves in red have been added. The size of the motif, its position on the cup and the floral details suggest that it is a primarily representational motif, a motif which from the beginning was intended to represent an object. On another well-known vase of the same phase from Phaistos, there is a herd of goats, Fig. 29 [WM 23:28]. Each animal consists of two diamonds suggesting body and legs, a triangle [p. 27] for the head and two diverging lines representing horns. The goats form an unending pattern over the entire surface of the vase in the same way as the plastic herd in WPS 258:3. The motif is closely related to various stone patterns, which are, of course, imitative, but not representational since they imitate various types of stone and do not represent any specific object. The question whether the artist from the beginning wanted to represent a herd of goats, or if while painting, he discovered the similarity between a stone pattern and a herd of goats, is difficult to answer, but the latter alternative seems more likely in view of the correspondence between the motif and the usual kinds of stone patterns. A bridge-spouted jar from the Kamares Cave is decorated with an argonaut-motif Fig. 30 [WPM 24 (iv) 1], which consists of two antithetic J-spirals plus a simple J-spiral. Representational motifs are more common in this phase in Eastern Crete. Several floral ñpictorializedî varieties consist of rows of dots, joined by short strokes to a longer connecting line and are often painted in alternating red and white colours [cf. for instance, Fig. 31, WPM 24 [vi] 10-12]. Sometimes the dots are replaced by triangular elements [ cf. WPM 24 (vi) 13 and 24 (vi) 17-19], but the motifs retain their floral character in spite of this change [Fig. 32]. There are no precisely datable examples of similar representational motifs on seals.

In Classical Kamares pottery from the palaces and in provincial pottery of phase 3, there are many more representational motifs than before, [p. 28] of "pictorialized" as well as of "pictorial" type. The "pictorial" representation of a man on the amphora from Phaistos [Fig. 4] already mentioned above, p. 25-26 [WM 26:1], has much in common with the phase 1 "pictorial" motifs from Palaikastro and Malia [cf. above, p. 25-26]. It is a standing figure with the torso seen en face and the head and legs in profile according to the conventions of Geradvorstelleigkeit. The figure has the same muscular legs as the man on the jug from Malia. The face is, however, less detailed, which is probably due to the difficulty of inserting small details with liquid paint into a limited area. There is a reserved dot for an eye, but no nose or eyebrows. The arms send in groups of short radiating lines, as do those of the man painted on the phase 1 cup from Palaikastro.

Moulded decoration appears in Classical Kamares pottery and in the provincial pottery of phase 3. Shells which are probably moulded from real shells are found on several vases from Phaistos [cf. WM 28:4-5], but there is also more elaborate plastic decoration, such as WM 28:7 and WPM 27 (iii) 1-2, which represent a leaping dolphin and a cat in a landscape respectively The shell motif is thus one of the very few instances of actual copying from nature in Minoan art.

"Pictorialized" motifs in palatial pottery of the Classical Kamares phase and in provincial pottery of phase 3 are more complicated than earlier "pictorialized" motifs. They often consist of many different [p. 29] abstract elements, reappearing in the same combinations, as for example J-spirals, dentate bands and petaloid loops in floral motifs.28 The motifs of "pictorialized" type are much more popular than those of "pictorial" type. The reason for this is obvious from a comparison between, for example, the standing male figure on the Phaistos amphora [Fig. 4] and the dancing women on the bowl from the same site [Fig. 13 and Levi, Festùs, Pl. LXVII a, inv. no F1278, see above, p. 18]. The petaloid loops representing the bodies of the women fit the circular interior of the bowl perfectly, and the movement suggested by their arrangement adds life and elegance to the vase, whereas the male figure neither contributes to nor detracts anything from the composition of the amphora. A typical example of "pictorialized" decoration is that of the fish pithos from Phaistos [Fig. 12, cf. above, pp. 17 f]. The main motif is a whirling motif composed from two petaloid loops of which one has been "pictorialized" as a fish and the other as a net emerging from them mouth of the fish. It is quite obvious that the motif has not been composed by chance and that it does not result from a sudden realization of the similarity between petaloid loops or whirling motifs and fish. The combination of the loops has been made deliberately in order to represent the fish. Also the accessory motifs have been chosen deliberately and with care. The lower part of the vase is encircled by wavy lines, which in combination with the fish motif are suggestive of the sea and rippling water. Further up on the vase, there are spirals which also assume a marine character and remind one of waves [Fig. 1 03].29 [p. 30]

In the Middle Minoan II seals, representational motifs are found frequently and they are mainly of "pictorial" type, but often with some abstract details. This can, for instance, clearly be seen in some human heads in profile from the Hieroglyphic Deposit at Phaistos. The faces are "pictorial" and more naturalistic than other contemporary representations, but the hair is in one case represented by dots and in another by joined semicircles [Fig. 33, cf. also, PM I, 272, fig. 201]. Abstract elements are thus used as in the "pictorialized" pottery motifs of the same period. Entire figures correspond closely to "pictorial" ceramic types. CMS II 5, 324 [Fig. 34] from Phaistos shows a man and a woman with the same triangular torso and legs in profile as the man painted on the amphora from Phaistos [Figs. 3-4, see above, p. 8-9] and on CMS II 5, 323, also from Phaistos there are two human figures consisting of a combination of circles and J-spirals. Some figures on the seals from the seal-cutter's workshop at Malia, aso dated in MM II, seem especially angular and geometric, which appears partly to be the result of the use of soft stone and partly the technique of carving [Fig. 35 a-b], cf. Yule, Early Cretan Seals, Pls. 1-2, mot. 1B: 19-21, 27-28, 30, 41. The torso is sharply triangular and the shoulders broad and box-like. In other human figures from the seal-cutter's workshop the triangular torso has been replaced by a [p. 31] circular one, cf. CMS II2 224a, CMS II2 160b, CMS II2 159b, and CS 37c [Fig. 36.]

MM II animal figures on seals are also usually "pictorial", as for instance, the animal figures from the Phaistos sealing deposit, from the Malia seal-cutter's workshop and the Hieroglyphic Deposit group from Knossos. There are, however, also many animal figures of "pictorialized" type. A rather striking example is a cat with a body consisting of a petaloid loop, Fig. 37 [CS 129]. A female figure on Fig. 38 [CMS II5 169], with a body formed by a petaloid loop and arms represented by antithetic J-spirals, corresponds closely to the female figures on the bowl from Phaistos [Fig. 13, see above, p. 18]. Some double axe motifs, like the contemporary ceramic motifs, are formed by circles with intersecting reserved areas, Fig. 3 9b [CMS II5 231] and Fig. 39a [WM 1:18-19]. Bucrania are formed by antithetic [p. 32] J-spirals for horns, combined with a rectangle and a circle [cf. Fig. 40, CMS II2 114, CS 19c and CMS Vii34]. In such cases it is difficult to decide whether the abstract elements are deliberately chosen to form a representational motif or if the representational has become an abstraction. In several cases the whole composition of teh seal motif has an underlying structure which corresponds to an abstract motif. CM 111a is a goat motif based on a whirling motif or Zweipass, and Knossos L24 is based on another more complicated whirling motif, in which the whirling elements are formed by sheep heads [Fig. 41]. The motif is reminiscent of a Classical Kamares vase-motif, WM 25 [v]3, which is "pictorialized" as an argonaut [Fig. 42].

Floral motifs, closely resembling the "pictorialized" floral motifs of the Kamares decoration, sometimes appear around the figures on the seals and suggest some kind of surrounding landscape. Examples of this are Fig. 43 a-b [CMS II5 270 and CMS II5 276]. [p. 33]

In Post-Kamares [provincial phase 4] pottery, many of the combinations of abstract elements which had been used to represent physical objects in Classical Kamares and phase 4 pottery survive. Antithetic J-spirals are, for instance, used for floral motifs such as lilies and grass, and some of the lily motifs are based on groups of three radiating lines, such as the lilies on the vases from the Magazine of the Lily vases at Knossos, Fig. 44 [WM 25 (i) 45]. Loops combined with a similar group of radiation lines are used for a tulip motif on an amphora from Knossos [cf. Fig. 45, Wm 25 (i) 10]. There are also foliate bands and sprigs based on various combinations of lines and petaloid loops [WM 25 (iv) 7]. Rosettes are still used for motifs of floral character, Figs. 9 and 5 [WM 10(vi)4] and antithetic J-spirals for palm motifs [WM 25 (i)9]. Rosettes and leaves which consist of antithetic J-spirals are combined to form an olive motif on a couple of amphoras of Post-Kamares [phase 4] type, Fig. 46 [WPM 24 (vi) 21, see below, [p. 34] pp. 76f.]. Such motifs may seem "natural" and representational, but the abstract elements of which they consist are clearly distinguishable, and it is obvious that certain combinations of J-spirals and other abstract elements have come to stand for lilies, palms, etc. The combinations have by now become fixed in the vase-painters' standard stock of motifs. Motifs which are based on an elaboration of some detail of an abstract motif are also still found in Post-Kamares [phase 4] pottery, as for example, Fig. 47 [WM 7(i)13] from Phaistos, in which the ends of the coils of a spiral motif have been turned into crocuses.

In the MM III seals, the artists attempt to create more realistic figures. The figures are more smoothly engraved30 and therefore seem more coherent and organic. Human figures are not always represented according to the convention of Geradvorstelligkeit [see above, p. 26], but are sometimes seen completely in profile, and there are also some attempts at three-quarter views [cf. Fig. 48, from the East Temple Repository]. Also more anatomic details are shown, a development [p. 35] which continues in Late Minoan seals. The talismanic stones, which begin to be produced in MM III , show constantly new combinations of motifs as well as the transformation of motifs from representational to abstract and vice versa [see above, pp. 16ff.].

LM I pottery motifs of floral and marine types appear to be more realistic than those of earlier periods. But here too abstract elements are still recognizable, and their connexion with Middle Minoan motifs is strong. In the grass or red motif of LM IA, antithetic J-spirals can still be made out without much difficulty,31 and in the marine motifs of LM IB, especially the cuttlefish motifs, but also the argonauts, the whirling combinations of J-spirals are still recognizable [Fig. 8].32 A typical example is the cuttle fish motif on a famous amphora from Palaikastro [Fig. 49]. The difference in character between LM I and LM II motifs has often been stressed, and Popham has, for instance, pointed out how the floral motifs of LM II have become "conventionalized" [cf Figs. 15-16]. He sees two main aspects: "formalism and a marked fondness for the grandiose".33 The change could also be described as an abstraction of "depictorialization" of the representational motifs of LM I and MM III. Instead of lilies, palm-trees, etc., there are now motifs of a general floral character, reminiscent of many Kamares motifs which have an undeniably floral character but impossible to identify as representations of any specific flower [see above, p. 21]. These LM II motifs of floral type are usually based on antithetic J-spiral motifs [cf. for instance, Popham, Late Minoan Pottery, Pls. 82a,b,d, and 83a, b.

To summarize, while representational motifs play a dominant role in Em III-MM IA glyptics, after having been introduced in EM II, and while these motifs are mainly of "pictorial" type, there are rather few contemporary representational pottery motifs. With the exception of two human figures, the representational pottery motifs of EM III [p. 36] and MM IA [Pre-Kamares/phase 1] are of the "pictoriralized" type and based on the vase-painter's standard stock of abstract motifs. The same is the case with MM IB/Early Kamares/phase 2 seal motifs and pottery motifs. In MM II seals, there are also many representational motifs, of which the majority is of "pictorial" type. There are, however, also some "pictorialized" motifs which correspond closely to ceramic motifs. In the palatial Classical Kamares pottery and in the provincial pottery of phase 3, there is an increased interest in representational motifs. Most of them are "pictorialized", but there are also a few "pictorial" motifs. The popularity of representational motifs continues in Post-Kamares [phase 4] and LM I pottery, and a similar tendency can be seen in MM III and LM I and II seals, even though the so-called talismanic seal stones also show tendencies toward abstraction. In LM II pottery, there is also a return to more abstract forms especially in some floral motifs. It is possible to follow a more or less continuous development toward naturalism in Greek art, and Egyptian art remained largely static [except for the Amarna period] once the ideal forms had been found and the canonic forms had been established. Minoan art, in contrast to Greek and Egyptian art, shows a constant shifting back and forth between abstract and representational motifs and a sophisticated play with formal possibilities. [p. 38]