Londinium, Architecture and the CraftsLethaby, W. R. (William Richard)
History
Londinium, Architecture and the Crafts
Lethaby, W. R. (William Richard)
England -- Antiquities, Roman; London (England) -- Antiquities, Roman; Romans -- England -- London
_An Orpheus Mosaic (?)._—Roach Smith reported the existence, below
Paternoster Row, of what must have been an exceptionally fine pavement,
which was broken up before any proper record of it could be made. This
“superb pavement extended at least 40 ft.; towards the centre were
compartments in which in variegated colours were birds and beasts
surrounded by a rich guilloche border.” The wording suggests a square
room, and the two former examples show that large square rooms existed
in London. In the villa at Woodchester the chief central room was nearly
50 ft. square; the pavement had “a central circular compartment; within
the border was a wide circular band containing representations of
animals, inside was a smaller band containing birds; on the southern
side was a figure of Orpheus.” The description of the London mosaic
suggests that it, too, had for subject Orpheus charming the beasts. It
was found about 1840 at a depth of 12 ft. In 1843 part of a mosaic
floor, “with birds and beasts within a guilloche border,” was found at a
depth of 12½ ft. below the offices of the Religious Tract Society at the
corner of Cannon Row (_V.C.H._). Is it not probable that this was
another part of the pavement described by Roach Smith?
_Inscribed Floor._—A mosaic pavement found in Pudding Lane as lately as
1886, and bearing an important inscription, was destroyed before any
sufficient record of it was made. A printed version of the lettering was
given in the _Archæological Journal_ of the same year by Dr. Haverfield,
with some comments. (Also see _S.A. Proceedings_, xiv. 6, and _V.C.H._)
In the collections of the Society of Antiquaries I find a sketch of it
by Henry Hodge, a careful draughtsman of the time. This drawing is said
to have been made “from a sketch by I. W. Jolly and fragments,” so that
its strict accuracy is questionable. It appears that it was complete on
the right but imperfect on the left-hand side. On the right some parts
of the pattern covering the rest of the floor and a border are shown and
some dimensions are given. It looks as if the panel was about 5 ft.
across and was the centre of a strip 7 ft. or 8 ft. wide. The letters
were about 3 in. high, black on a white ground; the last four seem to
have been D. S. P. D.—_de sua pecunia dedit_—and this would imply that
the mosaic belonged to a temple. The destruction of these mosaics is a
sad witness to the nineteenth-century type of intelligence. Of all of
them only the fragments of the Bacchus pavement are now known to exist.
I should like to find out what became of the Bacchante pavement sent to
the Crystal Palace, and whether the vase mosaic is still in packing
cases at Messrs. Cubitt’s. I wonder, too, what became of Mr. G.
Plucknett’s drawing, and wish I could get tidings of it. The great
pavement in Paternoster Row seems to have been destroyed without even a
drawing being made; while the sketch taken by Mr. Jolly of the inscribed
floor has, so far as I know, been burnt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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