Details

LOT 0609

Roman 'Pompeii Red' Fresco Wallplaster

1ST CENTURY A.D.

4 1/2 in. (234 grams, 11.3 cm).

Fragment of wall plaster with rendered surface painted red with yellow and white detailing to the edge; impression of timber laths to the reverse; old inked inscription: 'SIDI BOU ALI' to verso. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Acquired early 1900s.
Swiss family collection.
Acquired at Birmingham Coin & Antiquities Fair, circa 2004.
Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK.

Literature

Cf. Boislève, J., Dardenay, A., Monier, F., Peintures et stucs d’époque romaine. Révéler l’architecture par l’étude du décor, Paris, 2014, fig.6, for similar.

Footnotes

The ancient city of Sousse (today Sidi Bou Ali) was the Roman centre of Ulssipira, famous for its wonderful mosaics. However, as across Roman Tunisia, remains of frescoed houses have also been preserved. The ‘Pompeian red’ was used for walls as well as columns, such as those in the ‘house of the red columns’, Acholla, where the peristyle was formed by a narrow courtyard with stuccoed columns painted red.