Cases 25-40 contain furniture, lamps and lamp-stands, cooking utensils, objects used in connection with the bath, and objects illustrating the methods of heating buildings and supplying them with water. With the house itself, its plan and its appearance we are not concerned in this work. It is enough to say that the fundamental distinction between the ancient and modern house is that the one looked inwards, the other looks outwards. The ancient house received its light and air either from the open courtyard, round which it was built, or else from a large aperture in the roof. The former was the prevailing arrangement in Greece, the latter (in the earlier period) that adopted in Italy. The outside of the average Greek house was probably very destitute of architectural ornament, presenting a wide space of blank wall broken but by few windows.
The Roman house in its final development assumed a form closely resembling that of the Greek house just described. At an early period it was based on the early Italian house. This consisted merely of an oblong chamber, with a small opening in the roof for the admission of light and emission of smoke. This chamber was called an atrium, perhaps because walls and roof were black (ater) with soot from the smoke of the fire. Gradually the opening in the roof became larger. Rain fell in the centre into a basin called the impluvium. The atrium lost its character as a living room, and further courts and rooms in the Greek manner were added to it.
We may now deal with the internal arrangements and the furniture. The objects may be described as they concern (1) the general furniture of the house; (2) the lighting; (3) the kitchen; (4) the bath; (5) water supply; (6) the warming. (7) Annexed is a small type-series of vases.
The Furniture of the house.—In the nature of things, wooden furniture rarely occurs outside Egypt, except in South Russia. Thus we have a wooden table leg: a dog springs upward, from an acanthus leaf, surmounting an animal's leg (No. 300). This comes from Kertch in the Crimea. In general, the remains of furniture shown in this section are the metal accessories and fittings. These are for the most part of Roman date, but Roman furniture was so largely derived from the Greek, that they may be regarded as illustrating Greek furniture as well.
Some remarkable examples of bolster-ends in bronze, bronze inlaid with silver, and ivory, are shown in Cases 27, 28. They usually terminate above in a head of a mule, or of a duck, and below in a medallion bust.
Fig. 113.—Bronze Couch (Restored).
The seat (No. 301) is incorrectly put together. It is composed of the parts of one or two couches which should be restored as in fig. 113.
Below is a small bronze stool (No. 302), without arms or back, of a type not uncommon at Pompeii. Two tripods with expanding legs are placed in the bottom of Cases 27-28. One of these (No. 303) has an arrangement similar to that of the candelabrum No. 307, whereby it could be heightened at will. These tripods were used as small tables. Of a much older period is the fragment (No. 304) from the leg of a large bronze tripod, from Palaekastro in Crete.
Lighting.—In Cases 25, and 28, 29 are placed several candelabra used either for the support of wicks floating in an oil-bath or for lamps, or torches. Those stands which have come down to us are chiefly of bronze, but the cheaper ones in ancient times were made of wood. Martial, in an epigram, warns the possessor of such a wooden candelabrum to take care that the whole stand does not turn into one blazing candle.[41] A primitive example of lamp and candelabrum shaft combined is shown in No. 305, (fig. 114), from Cameiros (about seventh century B.C.). A female figure, of columnar form, supports a lamp with three nozzles. The Etruscan candelabra and many of the candelabra found at Herculaneum and Pompeii consist of a base in the form of three legs or paws, very commonly those of lions, a tall stem, and a circular support or spreading arms for the lamps at the top. The stem may be fluted, or may be knotted like a stem of a plant, or divided like a reed. In Roman times another variety is also common, composed of a massive base with three or more spreading arms, from which lamps were suspended. Such a stand (No. 306) is seen on the upper shelf of Cases 29-30. A point which may be specially noted in regard to some of the bronze stands of the Roman period is the decoration of the shaft, which often takes the form of a climbing animal. That shown in fig. 115 (No. 306*) has a panther, a cock, and a bearded serpent on the shaft. An ingenious expanding Roman bronze lampstand (No. 307) from the Hamilton Collection should be noticed in the lower part of Case 29. The central rod attached to the circular lamp-support can be raised at will, and secured in place by means of a bronze pin passed through one of the pairs of holes pierced in the side rods.