DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49928#0263
PLATE LXXXVI.
tlG. I.—Bed {χαμεννη).
Painting on a White Funeral Oil-Flask (lecythus') from
Athens. Formerly in the Fauvel Collection. Attic,
Fifth Century b.c.
Stackelberg, Graber d. Hellenen, Pl. 38.
Engelmann (Ed. Anderson), Pict. Atlas to Homer, Od.
fig. 10.
A dead man (or woman) laid out on his bed, as is shown by
the ribands (ταινιαι) hanging from the ceiling. Otherwise the
scene might be one from everyday life representing a person
sleeping on a mattress (κνεψαλλον, τυλειον) with a stuffed
pillow (ττροσκεφάλαιον) and covered by a blanket. A fleece
(κώδιον) in winter, or a light mat (ι/άα#ος) in summer often took
the place of a blanket.
For bedsteads see Pl. 82, figs. 3, 5, Pl. 95, figs. 2, 6, 9.
Fig. 2.—Chair (κλισρ,ός) and Table (τραττέ£α).
From a Red-figured Vase-painting.
Compte rendu i860, Pl. 2.
De Luynes, Vases peints, Pl. 37.
Tables in antiquity were only used to dine off (cf Pl. 77,
Pl. 96, fig. 2), or to serve as sideboards (cf. Pl. 77, fig. 11).
They were set at the side of the couch and were movable.
The heavier tables were mostly square, the lighter round as
here. The chair has a curved back and footstool (ύττοπ-όδιον)
of the common type (κλισρ,ός) used by women and elderly folk
(cf. Pls. 82, 83, 84). The scene of the painting is the
boudoir, as is shown by the pet bird in its wicker cage.
Fig. 3.—Etruscan Bed.
On a Terra-cotta Sarcophagus, from Cervetri
(ancient Caere). In the Louvre, Paris. Sixth Century
B.C.
Longperier, Musee Napoleon, ii., Pl. 80.
Mon. d. Inst. vi. 46.
Baumeister, Denkmdler, fig. 549.
Martha, Archeologie etr. et rom., fig. 28.
Daremberg et Saglio, Diet., fig. 2818.
In the earliest Etruscan graves the dead lie on actual beds
(cf. fig. 9 ; Pl. 97, fig. 4). Later the body was placed in a
sarcophagus made to imitate a bed with an effigy of the dead
man, either alone or with his wife, reclining on it (cf. Pl. 97, fig.
7; Pl. 98, fig. 8). This form of monument was popular
among the Romans, survived during the Middle Ages, and may
still be seen in any of our cathedrals.
In fig. 3 the husband and wife are dressed and represented
rather as at dinner than in bed. The wife’s cap and long
tresses (cf. Pl. 85, figs. 5, 6) and laced boots with turned up
toes (palcei, cf. Pl. 85, figs. 13, 19) should be noted. The bed
has a mattress (torus'), coverlets (toraliai) a raised head
{fulcrum) and pillows {pulvinaria, cerricalia), one of which
seems to be a stuffed skin. The woodwork of the bed is
decorated with a palmette pattern, which no doubt represents
inlaid work.
The wife lies on the right side of her husband, this being
“the lower room.”
Figs. 4, 5.—Bronze Chairs (?) wrongly restored.
In the Naples Museum.
Overbeck, Pompeii, fig. 227.
Dyer, Pompeii, p. 211.
Guhl and Koner, Life of Greeks and Romans, fig. 444.
Smith, Diet. Ant. ii., p. 620 (a specimen in the British
Museum).
Rolfe, Complete Handbook to Naples Museum, p. 124-5.
These chairs, generally but wrongly known as bisellia, are
modern restorations of the bronze legs and side bars
which survived when the wood perished. There can scarcely
be a doubt that they never belonged to chairs at all, but
are simply fragments of a couch of the kind shown in fig.
14, which has been restored in later and more conscientious
times. The reason for the mistake lies in the short length of
the bronze inlaying of the side bars. When these were joined
165
together instead of being separated by a couple of feet of wood
they made a chair, too large for one and not large enough for
two, that was erroneously identified with the honorary bisellium
granted to magistrates (Duumviri!) in Roman provincial towns.
The curved pieces which served to support the head of the
couch have been placed below the seat. This part of the couch
is the άνάκλιντρον, εττικλιντρον =fulcrum of which Isidorus
says, “ fulcra sunt ornamenta lectorum quod in iis fulcimur vel
quod toros fulciunt sive caput, quae reclinatoria ( — ανάκλιντρα)
vulgus appellatP (For further details see my article in the
Classical Review, July 1889.)
Fig. 6.—Bronze Bench from the Great Thermae,
Pompeii.
In the Naples Museum (No. 73017).
Mazois, Les Ruines de Pompei, iii., Pl. 49.
Dyer, Pompeii, p. 166.
Rolfe, Complete Handbook to Naples Museum, p. 128.
A low bench (subsellium, scamnum) which probably stood
in the tepidarium, like the three benches discovered in the
Smaller Baths, which are still in situ (Pl. 59, fig. 5). It is
inscribed M nigidivs vaccvlaps (— M. Nigidius Vaccula
pfecunia] s[ua] ?).
Fig. 7.—Marble Table from Herculaneum.
In the Naples Museum.
Museo Borbonico, iii. 30.
Overbeck, Pompeii, fig. 229.
Guhl and Koner, Life of Greeks and Romans, fig. 446.
Baumeister, Denkmdler, fig. 1909.
Rolfe, Complete Handbook to Naples Museum, p. 123, fig.
73019.
The base of a fountain. The water flowed through the
lion’s mouth. Wealthy Romans had a mania for collecting
round tables (orbes) of the choicest woods or marbles, which
served as ornamental furniture (see Mayor, Juvenal, i. 137-8
notes). This table shows one of the uses to which they could
be put.
tlG. I.—Bed {χαμεννη).
Painting on a White Funeral Oil-Flask (lecythus') from
Athens. Formerly in the Fauvel Collection. Attic,
Fifth Century b.c.
Stackelberg, Graber d. Hellenen, Pl. 38.
Engelmann (Ed. Anderson), Pict. Atlas to Homer, Od.
fig. 10.
A dead man (or woman) laid out on his bed, as is shown by
the ribands (ταινιαι) hanging from the ceiling. Otherwise the
scene might be one from everyday life representing a person
sleeping on a mattress (κνεψαλλον, τυλειον) with a stuffed
pillow (ττροσκεφάλαιον) and covered by a blanket. A fleece
(κώδιον) in winter, or a light mat (ι/άα#ος) in summer often took
the place of a blanket.
For bedsteads see Pl. 82, figs. 3, 5, Pl. 95, figs. 2, 6, 9.
Fig. 2.—Chair (κλισρ,ός) and Table (τραττέ£α).
From a Red-figured Vase-painting.
Compte rendu i860, Pl. 2.
De Luynes, Vases peints, Pl. 37.
Tables in antiquity were only used to dine off (cf Pl. 77,
Pl. 96, fig. 2), or to serve as sideboards (cf. Pl. 77, fig. 11).
They were set at the side of the couch and were movable.
The heavier tables were mostly square, the lighter round as
here. The chair has a curved back and footstool (ύττοπ-όδιον)
of the common type (κλισρ,ός) used by women and elderly folk
(cf. Pls. 82, 83, 84). The scene of the painting is the
boudoir, as is shown by the pet bird in its wicker cage.
Fig. 3.—Etruscan Bed.
On a Terra-cotta Sarcophagus, from Cervetri
(ancient Caere). In the Louvre, Paris. Sixth Century
B.C.
Longperier, Musee Napoleon, ii., Pl. 80.
Mon. d. Inst. vi. 46.
Baumeister, Denkmdler, fig. 549.
Martha, Archeologie etr. et rom., fig. 28.
Daremberg et Saglio, Diet., fig. 2818.
In the earliest Etruscan graves the dead lie on actual beds
(cf. fig. 9 ; Pl. 97, fig. 4). Later the body was placed in a
sarcophagus made to imitate a bed with an effigy of the dead
man, either alone or with his wife, reclining on it (cf. Pl. 97, fig.
7; Pl. 98, fig. 8). This form of monument was popular
among the Romans, survived during the Middle Ages, and may
still be seen in any of our cathedrals.
In fig. 3 the husband and wife are dressed and represented
rather as at dinner than in bed. The wife’s cap and long
tresses (cf. Pl. 85, figs. 5, 6) and laced boots with turned up
toes (palcei, cf. Pl. 85, figs. 13, 19) should be noted. The bed
has a mattress (torus'), coverlets (toraliai) a raised head
{fulcrum) and pillows {pulvinaria, cerricalia), one of which
seems to be a stuffed skin. The woodwork of the bed is
decorated with a palmette pattern, which no doubt represents
inlaid work.
The wife lies on the right side of her husband, this being
“the lower room.”
Figs. 4, 5.—Bronze Chairs (?) wrongly restored.
In the Naples Museum.
Overbeck, Pompeii, fig. 227.
Dyer, Pompeii, p. 211.
Guhl and Koner, Life of Greeks and Romans, fig. 444.
Smith, Diet. Ant. ii., p. 620 (a specimen in the British
Museum).
Rolfe, Complete Handbook to Naples Museum, p. 124-5.
These chairs, generally but wrongly known as bisellia, are
modern restorations of the bronze legs and side bars
which survived when the wood perished. There can scarcely
be a doubt that they never belonged to chairs at all, but
are simply fragments of a couch of the kind shown in fig.
14, which has been restored in later and more conscientious
times. The reason for the mistake lies in the short length of
the bronze inlaying of the side bars. When these were joined
165
together instead of being separated by a couple of feet of wood
they made a chair, too large for one and not large enough for
two, that was erroneously identified with the honorary bisellium
granted to magistrates (Duumviri!) in Roman provincial towns.
The curved pieces which served to support the head of the
couch have been placed below the seat. This part of the couch
is the άνάκλιντρον, εττικλιντρον =fulcrum of which Isidorus
says, “ fulcra sunt ornamenta lectorum quod in iis fulcimur vel
quod toros fulciunt sive caput, quae reclinatoria ( — ανάκλιντρα)
vulgus appellatP (For further details see my article in the
Classical Review, July 1889.)
Fig. 6.—Bronze Bench from the Great Thermae,
Pompeii.
In the Naples Museum (No. 73017).
Mazois, Les Ruines de Pompei, iii., Pl. 49.
Dyer, Pompeii, p. 166.
Rolfe, Complete Handbook to Naples Museum, p. 128.
A low bench (subsellium, scamnum) which probably stood
in the tepidarium, like the three benches discovered in the
Smaller Baths, which are still in situ (Pl. 59, fig. 5). It is
inscribed M nigidivs vaccvlaps (— M. Nigidius Vaccula
pfecunia] s[ua] ?).
Fig. 7.—Marble Table from Herculaneum.
In the Naples Museum.
Museo Borbonico, iii. 30.
Overbeck, Pompeii, fig. 229.
Guhl and Koner, Life of Greeks and Romans, fig. 446.
Baumeister, Denkmdler, fig. 1909.
Rolfe, Complete Handbook to Naples Museum, p. 123, fig.
73019.
The base of a fountain. The water flowed through the
lion’s mouth. Wealthy Romans had a mania for collecting
round tables (orbes) of the choicest woods or marbles, which
served as ornamental furniture (see Mayor, Juvenal, i. 137-8
notes). This table shows one of the uses to which they could
be put.