a mirror, and its stem is
the handle. One perfume box is a fish, another is a bird, another is a
grotesque deity. The lustration vases, or _situlae_, carried by priests and
priestesses for the purpose of sprinkling either the faithful, or the
ground traversed by religious processions, merit the special consideration
of connoisseurs. They are ovoid or pointed at the bottom, and decorated
with subjects either chased or in relief. These sometimes represent
deities, each in a separate frame, and sometimes scenes of worship. The
work is generally very minute.

[Illustration: Fig. 278.--Spoon (or lamp?).]

[Illustration: Fig. 279.--Bronze statuette of the Lady Takushet.]

[Illustration: Fig. 280.--Bronze statuette of Horus.]

[Illustration: Fig. 281.--Bronze statuette of one Mosu.]

Bronze came into use for statuary purposes from a very early period; but
time unfortunately has preserved none of those idols which peopled the
temples of the ancient empire. Whatsoever may be said to the contrary, we
possess no bronze statuettes of any period anterior to the expulsion of the
Hyksos. Some Theban figures date quite certainly from the Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Dynasties. The chased lion's head found with the jewels of Queen
Aahhotep, the Harpocrates of Gizeh inscribed with the names of Kames and
Ahmes I., and several statuettes of Amen, said to have been discovered at
Medinet Habu and Sheikh Abd el Gurneh, are of that period. Our most
important bronzes belong, however, to the Twenty-second Dynasty, or, later
still, to the time of the Saite Pharaohs. Many are not older than the first
Ptolemies. A fragment found in the ruins of Tanis and now in the
possession of Count Stroganoff, formed part of a votive statue dedicated by
King Pisebkhanu. It was originally two-thirds the size of life, and is the
largest specimen known. A portrait statuette of the Lady Takushet, given to
the Museum of Athens by M. Demetrio, the four statuettes from the Posno
collection now at the Louvre, and the kneeling genius of Gizeh, are all
from the site of Bubastis, and date probably from the years which
immediately preceded the accession of Psammetichus I. The Lady Takushet is
standing, the left foot advanced, the right arm hanging down, the left
raised and brought close to the body (fig. 279). She wears a short robe
embroidered with religious subjects, and has bracelets on her arms and
wrists. Upon her head she has a wig with flat curls, row above row. The