The third object was a copper plate 2/5 of an inch thick, 6-1/3 inches broad, and 17-1/3 inches long; it has a rim about 1/12 of an inch high; at one end of it there are two immovable wheels with an axle-tree. This plate is very much bent in two places, but I believe that these curvatures have been produced by the heat to which the article was exposed in the conflagration; a silver vase 4¾ inches high and broad has been fused to it; I suppose, however, that this also happened by accident in the heat of the fire.[279] The fourth article I brought out was a copper vase 5½ inches high and 4-1/3 inches in diameter. Thereupon followed a globular bottle of the purest gold, weighing 403 grammes (6220 grains, or above 1 lb. troy); it is nearly 6 inches high and 5½ inches in diameter, and has the commencement of a zigzag decoration on the neck, which, however, is not continued all round. Then came a cup, likewise of the purest gold, weighing 226 grammes (7¼ oz. troy); it is 3½ inches high and 3 inches broad.[280]
PLATE XVI.
Next came another cup of the purest gold, weighing exactly 600 grammes (about 1 lb. 6 oz. troy);[281] it is 3½ inches high, 7¼ inches long, and 7-1/5 inches broad; it is in the form of a ship with two large handles; on one side there is a mouth, 1-1/5 inch broad, for drinking out of, and another at the other side, which is 2¾ inches broad, and, as my esteemed friend Professor Stephanos Kumanudes, of Athens, remarks, the person who presented the filled cup may have first drunk from the small mouth, as a mark of respect, to let the guest drink from the larger mouth.[282] This vessel has a foot which projects about 1/12 of an inch, and is 1-1/3 inch long, and 4/5 of an inch broad. It is assuredly the Homeric δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον. But I adhere to my supposition that all of those tall and brilliant red goblets of terra-cotta, in the form of champagne-glasses with two enormous handles, are also δέπα ἀμφικύπελλα, and that this form probably existed in gold also. I must further make an observation which is very important for the history of art, that the above-mentioned gold δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον is of cast gold, and that the large handles, which are not solid, have been fused on to it. On the other hand the gold bottle and the gold cup mentioned above have been wrought with the hammer.