Fig. 254.—Head-dress. Elamite period (Louvre).
The second of these head-dresses is also in glazed sandstone, and is a kind of cap or turban, shaped like the knob of a stick, and decorated over the whole surface with nine rows of bronze disks held in place by nails of the same metal arranged quincunx fashion.[112] This kind of cap was usual among the Chaldæans, and we find examples both on bas-reliefs and cylinders.
There are numerous objects in ivory which date back to the primitive period of the history of Elam. These consist of engraved plaques, figures of animals, statuettes, and small implements. Of this series we must call attention to a delightful ivory figure 4¼ in. high, of which unfortunately the head is missing ([fig. 255]). It represents a woman standing, her hands crossed on her breast, as in the Tello statues. Her costume consists of a long dress reaching to the ankles made in one piece with only a trimming of braid round the bottom, and a different pattern of braid on the bosom. It covers the shoulders like a cape, leaving the fore-arms bare. The modelling of the arm has been studied with elaborate care. A fringed shawl in narrow pleats is thrown over the right shoulder above the dress, and falls over the back and the front as low as the knee. A hole pierced in the neck shows that the head must have been separate and fixed on; possibly it was of gold, and a deep groove on the border of the cape at the neck and over the elbow indicates that it also was of gold.
Fig. 255.—Figure of a woman, ivory (Louvre).