Note 222 — Chapter IX

Among the specimens secured were two of extraordinary beauty and interest. One of them is a beautiful enameled frieze of a lion and the other, likewise a work in enamel, represents a number of polychrome figures of the Immortals—the name given to the guards of the Great Kings of Persia. Both are truly magnificent specimens of ceramic art, and compare favorably with anything of the kind which antiquity has bequeathed to us. Commenting on the pictures of the Persian guards, Mme. Dieulafoy writes: "Whatever their race may be, our Immortals appear fine in line, fine in form, fine in color and constitute a ceramic work infinitely superior to the bas-reliefs, so justly celebrated, of Lucca della Robbia." Op. cit., p. 222.