DESCRIPTION OF [PLATE No. XI.]
No. 1. Remains of a kitchen-stove in the house of Pansa, at Pompeii, much like those of the present day; a knife, a strainer, and a kind of frying-pan with four cavities, probably intended to cook eggs.
No. 2. Stock-pot, in bronze, to hang over the fire, if we may judge from the eye at the top of the handle.
No. 3. A similar one of another shape, for boiling.
No. 4. Ladles of various forms, for making libation from larger vessels.
No. 5. A brazier; the thickness of the sides are hollow, and intended to contain water, and the four turrets are provided with moveable lids, at the side is a cock to draw off the water. The centre of course was filled with lighted charcoal, and if a tripod, or trivet, were placed above it, many processes of cooking, such as boiling, stewing, or frying, might be performed.—“Pompeii.”—“Lib. of Ent. Know.”
of the Metasudante,[XXII_39] of the Suburd Way,[XXII_40] and the Sacred Way.[XXII_41] Each one lays his basket at the feet of the procurator or major-domo, who examines the contents, and registers them on his tablets;[XXII_42] then he has placed in the pantry, contiguous to the dining room, those of the provisions which demand no preparation,[XXII_43] but whose graceful and symmetrical arrangement is confided to two Æolian servants designated under the name of structores.[XXII_44]
All these porters are under the immediate orders of a confidential servant—obsonator—charged with buying the provisions necessary for the household, and who is obliged to make himself acquainted with the taste of his master and also of each guest, that he may procure nothing which they dislike.[XXII_45]
The remaining comestibles are placed in an airy and spacious apartment adjoining the kitchen, and at the back of the house.[XXII_46] There, around a table loaded with numerous wooden figures, representing a variety of animals, some attentive young men are practising, under the direction of an experienced master, the difficult art of carving game and poultry;[XXII_47] whilst a melodious symphony accustoms their skilful hands to hasten or retard their graceful movements according to the time of the music.[XXII_48] In this learned rehearsal the eye and ear, alike charmed, pass alternately from the peaceful emotions of the pensive adagio to the lively cadences of the rapid allegro, and from the harmonious and calm andante to the captivating and joyous accents of a frenzied prestissimo.
In this spacious laboratory the most delicious emanations invite us. The chief of the cooks, the Archimagirus,[XXII_49] seated on a raised platform, embraces at a single glance the series of stock-pots and brick stoves,[XXII_50] very similar to those in use at the present day, at which the silent crowd of assistants,[XXII_51] ministers of his will, elaborate and watch the expensive dishes destined to form a splendid supper. As, at the moment of battle, the general, motionless on a height which commands a view of his army, hastens, orders, scolds his scattered battalions, absent and yet everywhere, animating with his own inspiration the warlike masses, and exciting them with the excitement of his own soul, he invokes victory, and victory replies, “Behold me!” The Archimagirus has also his days of triumph; and in the evening, perhaps, the king of the feast will place on his head a crown of flowers, precious recompense of his talent and success.