DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0306
THE POMPEIAN HOUSE
249
sents the kitchen table near the hearth on which the dishes
were washed; that it may have served a similar purpose in
later times is evident from the fact that in front of it a marble
pedestal was often placed for a statuette which threw a jet of
water into a marble basin at the edge of the impluvium. This
group of table, fountain figure, and basin appears in many
Pompeian atriums. In Plate VII we see the gartibulum and
the supports of the marble basin, but the base of the fountain
figure has disappeared.
The strong box of the master of the house, area, often stood
in the atrium, usually against one of the side walls. It was
sometimes adorned with re-
liefs, as the one shown in
Fig. 115, which is now in the
Naples Museum. It stood on
a heavy block of stone, or low
foundation of masonry, to
which it was attached by an
iron rod passing down through
the bottom. A wealthy Pom-
peian sometimes had more
than one of these chests.
In three atriums the herm
Fig. 115. — A Pompeian’s strong box, area.
of the proprietor stands at the rear. One, with the portrait of
Cornelius Rufus, is shown in Fig. 116.
When there were two atriums in a house, the larger was more
elaborately furnished than the other, and was set aside for the
public or official life of the proprietor ; the smaller one was used
for domestic purposes. Typical examples are found in the
houses of the Faun and of the Labyrinth. In the former the
principal atrium is of the Tuscan type, the other tetrastyle; in
the latter the large atrium is tetrastyle, the smaller Tuscan.
III. The Tablinum
The tablinum was a large room at the rear of the atrium,
opening into the latter with its whole width ; the connection of
the two rooms is clearly shown in Plate VII and Fig. 116.
249
sents the kitchen table near the hearth on which the dishes
were washed; that it may have served a similar purpose in
later times is evident from the fact that in front of it a marble
pedestal was often placed for a statuette which threw a jet of
water into a marble basin at the edge of the impluvium. This
group of table, fountain figure, and basin appears in many
Pompeian atriums. In Plate VII we see the gartibulum and
the supports of the marble basin, but the base of the fountain
figure has disappeared.
The strong box of the master of the house, area, often stood
in the atrium, usually against one of the side walls. It was
sometimes adorned with re-
liefs, as the one shown in
Fig. 115, which is now in the
Naples Museum. It stood on
a heavy block of stone, or low
foundation of masonry, to
which it was attached by an
iron rod passing down through
the bottom. A wealthy Pom-
peian sometimes had more
than one of these chests.
In three atriums the herm
Fig. 115. — A Pompeian’s strong box, area.
of the proprietor stands at the rear. One, with the portrait of
Cornelius Rufus, is shown in Fig. 116.
When there were two atriums in a house, the larger was more
elaborately furnished than the other, and was set aside for the
public or official life of the proprietor ; the smaller one was used
for domestic purposes. Typical examples are found in the
houses of the Faun and of the Labyrinth. In the former the
principal atrium is of the Tuscan type, the other tetrastyle; in
the latter the large atrium is tetrastyle, the smaller Tuscan.
III. The Tablinum
The tablinum was a large room at the rear of the atrium,
opening into the latter with its whole width ; the connection of
the two rooms is clearly shown in Plate VII and Fig. 116.