This treatment is based upon a system, the results being boldly and yet judiciously calculated.

When the object has to be sculptured in miniature, a mathematical reduction of the model is not so happy in its effect as might be supposed.

The head loses character; the neck looks too weak; the bust is reduced to a cylinder with a slightly uneven surface; the feet do not look strong enough to support the weight of the body; the principal lines are not sufficiently distinct from the secondary lines.

By suppressing most of the accessory forms and developing those most essential to the expression, the Egyptians steered clear of the danger of producing insignificant statuettes.

The eye instinctively tones down whatever is too forcible, and supplies what is lacking.