Fig. 74.—Lotus border; from Goodyear, after Prisse d’Avennes.
With the last figure we may compare the scroll detail (Fig. [75]) from a Melian vase, the lotus flower being represented by four black marks, and the scroll has acquired that development which is so characteristic of Ægean art.
Fig. 75.—Lotus scroll detail on a Melian vase; from Goodyear, after Conze.
Various causes may lead to the evolution of a recognised scheme of decoration of certain objects, but when a new class of objects is to be decorated the artist has a chance to exhibit his originality; even so this is about the last thing which decorative artists do manifest. The constraint of custom appears to exert an influence too potent to be readily snapped, and so the Egyptian decorator, being further tied by religious sentiment, ornamented even extensive areas, such as the ceilings of tombs, with lotus designs, the main elements of which had been elaborated elsewhere.
