ans, the commercial traders of the ancient world, as objects
of traffic to the remotest parts of the then known world. In the
Periplus of Scylax, the Phoenicians are mentioned as exchanging the
pottery of Athens for the ivory of Africa. They were, in fact, the
ornamental china of the ancient world.

[Illustration: ETRUSCAN VASE.]

_Etruscan._--The potter's art was introduced into Etruria by Demaratus
of Corinth, who, flying from that city, took up his abode at
Tarquinii, the modern Corneto, where vases in the most archaic style,
resembling those of Corinth, or those called Doric, have been found.
Vases, the Etruscan origin of which can not be disputed, have been
found at Volterra, Tarquinii (Corneto), Perugia, Orvieto, Viterbo,
Aquapendente, and other towns of ancient Etruria. The clay of which
they are made is of a pale or reddish yellow, the varnish is dull, the
workmanship rather rude, the ornaments are devoid of taste and
elegance, and the style of the figures possesses all those
characteristics already assigned to that of the Etruscans. The figures
are drawn in black on the natural color of the clay; sometimes a
little red is introduced on the black ground of the drapery. It is by
the subject chiefly that the Etruscan vases are distinguished from the
Greek vases. On the former, the figures are in the costume peculiar to
ancient Italy; the men and the heroes are represented with their
beards and hair very thick; the gods and genii have large wings;
monstrous combinations not capable of explanation by Hellenic myths;
we may also observe divinities, religious customs, attributes,
manners, arms, and symbols, different from those of Greece. Etruscan
deities, such as Charun with his mace, denote their Etruscan origin;
the subjects of the vases are, however, generally derived from Greek
mythology, treated in a manner consonant to the Etruscan taste, and to
their local religion, while their drawing is of the coarsest kind. If
an inscription in Etruscan characters, traced invariably from right to
left, accompanies the painting, certainty with regard to their origin
may be considered as complete. It is true that the greater number of
the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet are of the same form as
those of the Etruscan alphabet; but there are in the latter some
particular characters which will prevent any confusion. The names of
the personages on the vases are spelt differently from those on the
Greek, as Ainas for Aj