ROMANCE OF A STATUE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8156, 13 July 1906, Page 4

ROMANCE OF A STATUE.

i..l' .IvlllltV ,rl I lII' I'V.'IK-il <js)\ t]:t it in W:>- lit'l:i ot ale\p|. .it. m Ct.uUU.l .iHU at ou.-a lias> ~ ...i.v i in if iiiiilllm 1 1' ot uk>-l important

.1 i i, to tin COlU'C'l.Oll*. i-l ilw Aluavli .. ot till- 1. .'I VIJUi t' ol ttlllcll ale "I v■-li-iut-i-.iiilf .--in-pi i-f to archil,.. Uvt. -hi ye.i.s nave el.ip-ed si,,. • kite .>l. til-' !>arzec, tne i* l'ellcil I ->il ..t H.i-.i .lii. i-illlilnt -need his cxp.. ~Hl.Jll> 111 t.le luV. IllvUlHls ot T.-Uo on (!:.■ .Mi.it ei iuv HI Siuiiiuii t'liiilikvi. .u..l lor in'..! !y -0 years lit c-uitiiiueil his ,v-.>. . .:i iitiv;)V.'i : Uj;.> it' the i.iiok-ut city Ci rfirpurra of 1.1,,.1' h. a city u lnt.li uate.s 1-tu k to about

li U 11. C'.. '.'it whose uiu-t important jit-i'.uvl ot influence was during the reign ul i.iu pncst-,.iiig (jiuiea aOoiit 2JUU tl. i.'. Ills eipioi.Uiolis brought. toligltt ma i\ sUtucs i.t tins and oiuor ruler*. »ca j'.tures. and seviral tbotisands of juI'rit'. J tablets. These chiefiy iviato to the leveuuen and estates ot ttie city god Nil) Uirsu, affording us a wonderful insigia into the astonishing fiscal system ninth the Babylonians had developed at taat earlv period. Upon the death oi M. fie 3iir7.ee. the nork tras abandoned tor if time, but lias recently been resumed under the direct inon or Captain Gaston lie Croc; and «>mo interesting discoveries have resulted from his researchou. Among the objects discovered is a small statue about lSin. high carved in black diorite. o! the great ruler Gudea. 1 his statue has a most curious histow. ahnost in the annals of Orieittal archaeology. The king is represented seated on a low r-ti:ol or throLe. clad in a Ion" lohc, hinged at the e Igis. anil with tlio right ;inn bar Th.- hands are tohled in a. reverent attitude upon tlio knees. Ipon the hack of tile statue which the king ha.s dedicated to hi- gij as a votive nlfering. Tile -tatue was >eiit to tin- Louvre, and oil .feiu£ exaiii.ne.l i,y .M. Ileuzey. the direct...' of the Museum, a most curious dijse.'Vi'iy was made about IS7U. M. <le i' iii the s;inie part of the ruin-, two r-nifill heads, wntch had been bi'ok. n off statuo.s. One of these repres'ente 1 a i't.iriiii -- face with higli cheek bone*, find small, olive-shaped eves, and preH'iited a distinctly Tartar or Mongol tvpe of face, and is generally accepted by archacologistu as representing the Siiiiie.ian or pre-SemitiC race of Babylonia. The head is decorated with turban, very similar to that worn in that region at the present day. The second head u.is lieartllcss also, but of a somewhat fuller type, but the head tosapparently clean shaven, and it has often i>eon called "the head ct the .shaved priest." Cpon the arrival if a small rttatue in Paris. M. Ileuzey was delighted to find that the fractures on the neck oxactly fitted on the statue, and Oil the two portions being joined a beautiful portrait statue of the great ruler; Gudea was completed—the body and head having an interval of more than 2C years apart in time of discovery.

The romance of this statue <li.l not. however, end with this fortunate discovery. In or about 187 li the British .Museum obtained a beautiful piece oi CThaldr.'ii carving. It represented a wig. and had evidently onco been placed on the bead of a statue —a method of com jwsite sculpture hitherto known only ii Kgvpt. The object is now exhibited in the Babylonian Room of the British Mnsea:i;. It is an exquisite pie?.-* oi work in black stone, similar to tin statue and its head. The hair is cirri' : with great fidelity, and parted down tin

r.-ntre of the Vad. The curls which bring dewu the neck are confined by :• 'illet. This bandlet holds in it- place or tho forehead a frontlet curiously lik. those (.nc worn by the Jews. ,im [ en •li'inly ,i talisman. It is insoribtd wit! the ininc (if Gndea. and next dines thmportim fact that it exactly lit- tin ln\id of the Paris stntiie. so that the whale |K>rtrait statue is now ooniplot" having been built up fre'.i; t'.u- different • aire*'*, and the fmjimi*nts in two s<»p-nm-nim-. It is to Ik* !m[kh! th;i> -hantze < :->:sof their respective portions, so that c"h njiisnim m;iy povsr-s a cop\ of thi- ancient trork of art. uVc-h ha had .-o . trangoly romantic a hi^ovy.

CITS WORTH THOUSANDS. The « ;kMTion oi cutting r.n i polish deiwrnU a large { ,i skill on '.';e p-irt <»t the workin<n. l)ia mond i.i Ua4.il to cut diamond. T;u» diamond* arc mount**] on >tiek- or hoS: fis. and :no operator, taking one in eac: hand. :i rs an angle of one :'i.i tn cu. off or le.ince the oi the othe.' and in way the natural c.i tho -tv,in-. are removed. the dust bein. caught sip for subsequent use. Atunvards begins the real process u! cutting and polishing, carried out in tin miUs by -team power. The diamond t< be cut U nso-inte 1 in > .Ider, e;>ntaim».: .'.i a cup at the end oi a piece ci {■onjicr .vire. which Is h;ld in tongs on tho in ; ll <lisc. Tho revolving disc iv»ith diamond dusc and oil. pre tenting no to speak, a diamond .surtax-. np;n which the diamonds, sollored in a v .p. are tut and poiUhed. The mills run 2.W0 revolutions per minute. i'ho high rate of £p«*»'d <;f working gradually wears away the stone being cut. a-rj when the workman ctiKiilei: t (iiit t!i;» cutting i;f a facet ha., prwi-ed-i-il as i.ir :;s reqain-d. t:;. .■ i* .voltned anl the ttrnn ri'le:i-i <l. n-a.iy to U

M>t in another p tor phciii'4 m tin- mill. Tik- cutting tlms proly -iu*VN?ivo st.ijjis till the jewel finally j-<- | ime> the proper form. Many valuable .stone? «re cut in thN u*ay. and a skilled workman frequently has Cl.JiuO uorth oi precious .'-tones on bis bench at one time.