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Mosaic emblema with cupids gathering roses in a garden
Roman, North African
Imperial Period
late 2nd–mid-3rd century
Place of Manufacture: Tunisia
Medium/Technique
Fine stone and glass tesserae on terracotta panel
Dimensions
Lender accessory (Mount (overall dims of object in the mount)): 48.5 x 61.1 x 12.3 cm (19 1/8 x 24 1/16 x 4 13/16 in.)
Framed (Aluminum frame with a pair of wall cleats): 39.8 x 59.8 x 5.8 cm (15 11/16 x 23 9/16 x 2 5/16 in.)
Framed (Aluminum frame with a pair of wall cleats): 39.8 x 59.8 x 5.8 cm (15 11/16 x 23 9/16 x 2 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Jeffrey and Pamela Dippel Choney
Accession Number2003.340
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAfrica and Oceania, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsMosaics
DescriptionA portable panel mosaic comprised of three registers, only two can be clearly read, that illustrates the rose harvest and garland business.
At the top register three cupids gather roses in their own baskets in the garden. The garden is bordered to the left by a picket fence. At the right the fence is more elegant, with rectangular sections strengthened by diagonal crossbars. There is a trapezoidal re-entrance at the center of this right-hand section of fence. In the middle register , a cupid brings in a basket of roses on his back, in front him is a cupid who holds up a stick from which hangs a string of roses and a rose pomander hangs from a ribbon around his left wrist. At the center is a cupid seated on a basket of roses facing a four-legged table with clusters of roses neatly arranged. He holds up a garland of roses and may be the garland maker. At his back is a tree with silvery green leaves. At the left, a cupid holds a long pole from which are suspended four garlands. In his left hand he holds two more garlands. He may be about to set out to sell the garlands.
The mosaic is bordered by a black band surrounded by a brown area. It is composed of fine tesserae on top of a panel of terracotta, making it an "emblema": created in a studio and installed ready-made into a pavement of coarser mosaic.
At the top register three cupids gather roses in their own baskets in the garden. The garden is bordered to the left by a picket fence. At the right the fence is more elegant, with rectangular sections strengthened by diagonal crossbars. There is a trapezoidal re-entrance at the center of this right-hand section of fence. In the middle register , a cupid brings in a basket of roses on his back, in front him is a cupid who holds up a stick from which hangs a string of roses and a rose pomander hangs from a ribbon around his left wrist. At the center is a cupid seated on a basket of roses facing a four-legged table with clusters of roses neatly arranged. He holds up a garland of roses and may be the garland maker. At his back is a tree with silvery green leaves. At the left, a cupid holds a long pole from which are suspended four garlands. In his left hand he holds two more garlands. He may be about to set out to sell the garlands.
The mosaic is bordered by a black band surrounded by a brown area. It is composed of fine tesserae on top of a panel of terracotta, making it an "emblema": created in a studio and installed ready-made into a pavement of coarser mosaic.
Provenance1938, said to have been found in Sousse, Tunisia by a French physician and taken to France [see note 1]. By 1992, Galerie Günter Puhze, Freiburg, Germany [see note 2]; 2003, sold by Günter Puhze to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 17, 2003)
NOTES:
[1] According to a letter from Günter Puhze (November 2, 2002), the mosaic "was in the possession of a French physician and found on his property in Sousse/Tunesia in 1938 (at that time a French protectorate). Before the independence of Tunesia it was brought to France." [2] The gallery attested that the mosaic was published in their 1992 calendar; also see Galerie Günter Puhze, Kunst der Antike 10 (1993), no. 27.
NOTES:
[1] According to a letter from Günter Puhze (November 2, 2002), the mosaic "was in the possession of a French physician and found on his property in Sousse/Tunesia in 1938 (at that time a French protectorate). Before the independence of Tunesia it was brought to France." [2] The gallery attested that the mosaic was published in their 1992 calendar; also see Galerie Günter Puhze, Kunst der Antike 10 (1993), no. 27.