The method of its application to the kylikes as a handle-ornament, linked thereto by a scroll, has already been treated in detail (Vol. I. p. 413); it first appears on the Cyrenaic cups, and is usually employed by the “minor artists” of the B.F. period. The chief feature of the new advance is that the palmette is no longer a stiff upright design with straight unenclosed petals, the form to which it adheres down to the end of the sixth century; but now assumes a more flexible and graceful form, being encircled and linked to its fellows by means of slender scrolls or tendrils, which thus form a series of elliptical or oval forms capable of great variety of arrangement and position (Fig. 166). This framed palmette is first found in the Fikellura or Samian ware. It occurs in the form of a frieze, with linking scrolls, on the later B.F. hydriae.[2047] The number of leaves or petals of which the palmette is composed is usually limited to seven. Another important and very effective improvement is achieved by placing opposed pairs of palmettes no longer vertically, but obliquely, forming an upper or lower border to the design (Fig. 167). These are frequently found on the krater and hydria, and appear constantly on the vases of Apulia and Lucania, especially on the lip. Great attention is paid to the effective grouping of the framed palmettes in the spaces under the handles, the object aimed at being more and more naturalism rather than symmetry.[2048] [Illustration: FIG. 164. PALMETTES AND LOTOS UNDER HANDLES (ATTIC B.F.).] [Illustration: FIG. 165. PALMETTE PATTERN ON NECK OF RED-BODIED AMPHORAE.] [Illustration: FIG. 166. ENCLOSED PALMETTES (R.F. PERIOD).] [Illustration: FIG. 167. OBLIQUE PALMETTES (LATE R.F.).] In the later R.F. period, on the other hand, there is a certain reaction in the direction of conventional ornament, combined with exaggeration and lack of refinement. The palmette under the handle returns to the old erect unframed type, and increases enormously in size, so that one or at most two vertically opposed suffice to fill the space. In this form it appears on the bell-shaped kraters and hydriae of Southern Italy, and especially those of Campania, surrounded by elaborate scrolls and tendrils. In the latter fabric the palmette, which has become almost gross and ugly, is usually flanked by two large convolvulus or other flowers rising from the ground, and drawn in profile (Fig. 168). In the Apulian and Lucanian vases there is no rule as to the number of the palmettes, and sometimes the effect is exceedingly rich and elaborate. Speaking generally, there is no ornament which prevails so universally and in such varied forms and systems on Greek vases, but to give an exhaustive account of all its uses would be far beyond the limits of this work. [Illustration: FIG. 168. PALMETTE UNDER HANDLES (SOUTH ITALIAN VASE).]