Faience is of course made from ground quartz that is coated in a vitreous glaze. Faience beads were first made in Keftiu before the First Palaces were built. (They were made by the Early Minoan II period, c 2500 - 2200 BC). While faience was immediately popular in Kemet, it was slower to gain popularity in Keftiu. After awhile, the Minoans made faience plaques of town houses, trees, soldiers, animals (such as a cow with her calfs), and ships. During the time of the Second Palaces, faience figurines were made with details colored in black, white, blue, green, brown, and yellow. Faience was also used in various appliques and inlays. One fine faience piece is a very real looking argonaut shell. Although most faience vases and statuettes were made during the period of the Palaces (before 1550 BC), we offer a variety of faience beads and plaques and a few statuettes.
Terracotta statuettes come in the form of men, women, animals, and human limbs (which can be used as offerings to celebrate the healing of limbs etc). Following Egyptian usage, men are typically painted red while women are painted white. Terracotta statuettes from the Second Palace Period (c1550 and 1450 BC) were made with moulds. We have some fine examples of terracotta bulls. Female terracotta figurines from the Mycenaean period wear the long skirts, jackets, and spreading headdresses of Minoan women. These figurines also use Minoan poses. These Mycenaean figurines are not found on Keftiu. Keftiu statuettes of this period (1400 BC - 1100 BC) have hollow, cylindrical skirts that form a firm base for female figures. The female figures sometimes have poppies in their crowns. The poppies are slashed, as if they were used to extract opium from them. Some have said the figures represent a goddess of drug-induced peace and forgetfulness.
Bronze statuettes are cast using the lost wax method. A wax model was made and coated in clay. When heated, the wax melted away. Molten metal was poured into the space left by the melted wax. The clay was then chipped away. The tin content of the bronze was low and some statuettes were really made of copper. The surfaces of the statues are generally left rough. Men generally appear as worshippers, with their right hands raised to their foreheads or with both arms in front of their bodies. They wear tight belts, frontal sheaths, and loin-cloths. The women also have their right hands raised to their foreheads or have both hands in front of their bodies. They wear the typically elaborate skirts of Minoan women. Other bronze statues include acrobats jumping over bulls. The early bronze statues (16th and 15th centuries BC) are the finest.
Minoan ivory comes from the Syrian Elephant, which still survives in that part of the world, and from the hippopotamus. Ivories have been popular since the time of the Palaces. Examples include ivory statues of women or goddesses (you can decide for yourself) with elaborate costumes and gold highlights for the bracelets and belt. Some statues were made in two parts that were then pegged together. The arms are also attached with pegs. Another older ivory statue is a bull-jumper in flight over a bull. More recent ivory carvings include a man with a serpentine head, rock crystal eyes, and an ivory face. An ivory from the Mycenaean world has a scene of griffins attacking deer on a rocky hillside. Another Mycenaean ivory has winged griffins attacking deer while two small lions watch. The Mycenaean ivory carvers love to use griffins for their subjects.
The earliest house-walls were painted red or brown. The first palaces of Knossos and Phaestos had ornamental designs painted on the wall plaster. But Minoan fresco painting came into its own during the Second Palace period (most examples date between 1550 BC and 1450 BC). Lime plaster was colored with carbonaceous shale to create black, hydrate of lime for white, haematite for ed, ochre for yellow, and silicate of copper for blue. Green was made by mixing blue and yellow. The pigments were sometimes added while the plaster was wet and sometimes later, as in overpainting. Sometimes the design was modelled in low relief in the plaster to emphasize the design. The art style is notably naturalistic. The frescoes are usually framed by bands of geometric patterns, such as those that appear in vase-paintings of the period. Topics include court processionals and ceremonies, religious festivals, bull-jumping, nature scenes such as lilies, irises, plants in stone vases, birds, monkeys, a cat stalking a pheasant, a roebuck jumping over rocks and flowers, a blue monkey in a field of crocuses, blue dolphins, and fish. Some small, freestanding fresco plaques are available for your consideration.
While Keftiu men traditionally wear a simple kilt, the women wear elaborately flounced and colored skirts and jackets/bodices. We offer skirts and jackets in a variety of sizes and colors. For our men-folk we offer kilts in a variety of sizes. We also offer fine cloaks and other linen goods.
Return to Kitaneja's Minoan Market
Created before July 2005
Last Updated November 30, 2009