Szabó Miklós, Petres F. Éva: Decorated weapons on the La Tene Iron Age in the Carpathian Basin. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 5; Budapest, 1992)

IV. THE PLASTIC STYLE IN WEAPON DECORATION

68; Pis 71-72, 111. VII), the latter with the expressive mask on its pommel and an emphatic relief ornament on its reinforce.

402 Fig. 84 Ciume§ti/C

somaköz bronze rosette on iron chain-mail (after Rusu [1969] fig. 5) Another Kosd scabbard (Cat.no. 67; PI. 70) whose upper reinforce provides another clear example of the application of plastic decoration was probably manufactured in the same workshop. Comparable hybrid solutions are not infrequent at the close of the Early and the beginning of the Middle La Tène period; suffice it here to quote the openwork mount decorated scabbard from PottenbrunnRatzersdorf (Cat.no. 79; PL 82)

403 with its distinctive pommel, the plastic relief of its guard and the inset discs of the chape-end. This reflects a tendency for adorning with plastic ornament certain functional elements such as reinforces, chapes and pommels, which readily invited this decorative treatment. It is all the more regrettable that all too often decorated sheaths are heavily fragmented and thus we can only guess at the possible ration of different ornamental features on the original. The chape from Peçica/Pécska (Cat.no. 96; Pl. 95,2) is a case in point. The presence and growing popularity of ornaments executed with relief lines on relics of the Hungarian Sword Style is extremely noteworthy. One good example is the Kosd spearhead (Cat.no. 28; PL 27) mentioned in the above, or a rich series of documents from the younger phase.

404 The careful search for the third dimension, the gradual shift from purely graphic design to all-round forms can hardly be separated from a change of artistic taste influenced by appearance of the Plastic Style.

405 The most important document of the latter is a scabbard from the former Pécsi Collection, found in the environs of Balassagyarmat (Cat.no. 2; Pis 2-3). Two yin-yang motifs executed in relief line adorn the uppermost part of the front plate of the scabbard. Of special interest is the fact that the earliest appearance of this motif can be documented on finds from Bohemia representing the Plastic Style.

406 The most intriguing element of the scabbard is the bilateral reinforce below the mouth. In front it consists of a bar with two discs adorned by triskeles in the "champ-levé" technique, whilst the T-shaped reinforce on the reverse side cuts into the top of the upper loop-plate horizontal arms terminate in a human head depicted in profile, whilst the lower element takes the form of a human foot with an anklet.

407 This anthropomorphised suspension loop reflects a general tendency in the Plastic Style: a comparable transformation of functional elements is well-known in La Tène art from the second half of the 3rd century B. C. The metamorphosis often affects the suspension loop of the scabbard as shown by finds from Switzerland and the Carpathian Basin. Some of these bear a close resemblance to the scabbard from the Pécsi Collection as shown by the scabbards from Keőovo (Cat.no. 94; Pl. 93,2) and Kupinovo.

408 The sword scabbards from the 3rd-2nd centuries offer fine examples of the joint occurence and combination of plastic and engraved ornaments — a treatment which follows logically from the form and structure of the object to be decorated.

409 The Middle La Tène period witnessed a growing emphasis on elements suited to decoration in the Plastic Style. The popularity of scabbards with S-shaped reinforce can be linked to this tendency.

410 Recent discoveries by conservators have directed attention to the plastic ornament of shield bosses. Three-dimensional triskeles appear on La Tène B2 type two-part shield bosses from France. On the specimen from grave 25 of the Kosd cemetery the plastic design runs along the central rib,

411 and it shares typological affinities with the shield boss from grave 1 of Tápszentmiklós (Fig. 35), which has two yin-yangs flanked by "Notenkopf" and drop motifs.

412 It is to be excepted that documents of the Plastic Style will increase with the careful conservation of older and more recent finds. The fact that unexcepted surprises may lie in store is shown by discoveries from France indicating that email inlay can now be added to the decorative repertoire of Celtic shields.

413