by two bars, the lower one adorned with a number of
double volutes, and the upper one with two lions standing back to back;
the stool stands on balls, surmounted first by a double moulding, and
then by volutes.

Stands with shelves often terminate, like other articles of furniture,
in animals' feet, most commonly lions', as in the accompanying
specimens. [PLATE LXXXV., Fig. 5.]

Of the embroidered robes and draperies of the Assyrians, as of their
furniture, we can judge only by the representations made of them upon
the bas-reliefs. The delicate texture of such fabrics has prevented them
from descending to our day even in the most tattered condition; and the
ancient testimonies on the subject are for the most part too remote from
the times of the Assyrians to be of much value. Ezekiel's notice is the
only one which comes within such a period of Assyria's fall as to make
it an important testimony, and even from this we cannot gather much that
goes beyond the evidence of the sculptures. The sculptures show us that
robes and draperies of all kinds were almost always more or less
patterned; and this patterning, which is generally of an extremely
elaborate kind, it is reasonable to conclude was the work of the needle.
Sometimes the ornamentation is confined to certain portions of garments,
as to the ends of sleeves and the bottoms of robes or tunics; at others
it is extended over the whole dress. This is more particularly the case
with the garments of the kings, which are of a magnificence difficult to
describe, or to represent within a narrow compass. [PLATE LXXXVI, Fig.
1.] One or two specimens, however, may be given almost at random,
indicating different styles of ornamentation usual in the royal apparel.
Other examples will be seen in the many illustrations throughout this
volume where the king is represented. It is remarkable that the earliest
representations exhibit the most elaborate types of all, after which a
reaction seems to set in simplicity is affected, which, however, is
gradually trenched upon, until at last a magnificence is reached little
short of that which prevailed in the age of the first monuments. The
draperies of Asshur-izir-pal in the north-west palace at Nimrud, are at
once more minutely labored and more tasteful than those of any later
time. Besides elegant but unmeaning patterns, they exhibit human and
animal forms, sacred trees, sphinxes, griffins, winged horses, and
occasionally bull-hunts and li