The height of the vase is about thirteen inches.
In many of the Cyprian vases having a geometric decoration, the figures are not painted on the surface but impressed or incised.Messrs.

Perrot and Chipiez regard this form of ornamentation as the earliest; but the beauty and finish of several vases on which it occurs is against the supposition.

There is scarcely to be found, even in the range of Greek art, a more elegant form than that of the jug in black clay brought by General Di Cesnola from Alambra and figured both in his "Cyprus"[855] and in the "Histoire de l'Art."[856] Yet its ornamentation is incised.
If, then, incised patterning preceded painted in Phoenicia, at any rate it held its ground after painting was introduced, and continued in vogue even to the time when Greek taste had largely influenced Phoenician art of every description.
The finest Phoenician efforts in ceramic art resemble either the best Egyptian or the best Greek.

As the art advanced, the advantage of a rich glaze was appreciated, and specimens which seem to be Phoenician have all the delicacy and beauty of the best Egyptian faience.

A cup found at Idalium, plain on the outside, is covered internally with a green enamel, on which are patterns and designs in black.[857] In a medallion at the bottom of the cup is the representation of a marshy tract overgrown with the papyrus plant, whereof we see both the leaves and blossoms, while among them, rushing at full speed, is the form of a wild boar.