VIII.4.12 Pompeii. House of a Barber.

Excavated 1861. (Strada d’Olconio 12).

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking south to entrance doorway on Via dell’Abbondanza. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. May 2005. Looking south across shop to dwelling at rear.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. September 2005. Entrance, looking south-east.

According to Della Corte, found on the pilaster to the left of the entrance, was the graffito

Tonsores  (rogant)    [CIL IV 743]

See Della Corte, M., 1965. Case ed Abitanti di Pompei. Napoli: Fausto Fiorentino. (p.237)

According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby, the graffito read:

A(ulum) Trebium

aed(ilem) tonsores     [CIL IV 743]

(See www.manfredclauss.de)

According to Fiorelli found nearby, were:

(A)  TREBIVM

AED  TONSORES

POPIDIVM  SECUND

               AED

See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.128).

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. August 2021. Looking south from entrance doorway towards peristyle. Photo courtesy of Robert Hanson.

VIII.4.12 from VIII.4.13 Pompeii. September 2004. Looking south across remains of atrium and tablinum.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. September 2005. Looking south through tablinum.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking towards rooms on the east side of atrium. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. September 2005. Rooms on the east side of atrium.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. September 2005. West side of atrium.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Looking towards room on west side of tablinum, which may have been a kitchen according to Boyce. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Looking south-west towards room (kitchen?) on west side, before the peristyle, on left. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking west into kitchen, room on west of side of tablinum. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

According to Boyce, the room on the right of the tablinum may have been the kitchen.

He says in the west wall, pictured above, there was an arched niche.

Its walls were coated with white stucco which was painted with red and yellow flowers.

On the right side of the niche, the lararium painting was painted in two zones.

The lower zone showed a serpent, still visible in 1937, with a red crest and beard, rearing its head above the masonry altar.

The altar was standing against the wall below the niche.

In the upper zone, nothing was visible, but earlier reports described the figure of a Lar painted on the left side of the niche.

On the right side of the niche, there were two painted hams and an eel.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p.76).

See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.128).

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Looking towards north-west corner of kitchen. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Altar and niche against west wall of kitchen. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Niche and surrounding remaining plaster of the lararium painting. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Detail of niche. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Detail of remaining plaster in niche, red and yellow flowers, perhaps. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Remaining painted plaster on right side of niche, from the lararium painting ?

Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Detail of above remaining painted area. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking south-west towards room on west side, before the peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. September 2005. Looking south through tablinum, towards peristyle area.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking south across garden peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking south-east across garden peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking south-east across peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Detail of items near south side of peristyle. Is this the masonry pool, as described by Jashemski. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Wall on south side of peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Detail of large stone used as base for an arca, near south wall of peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

Description by Niccolini, but see also VII.2.18 –

12/13. Shops, from one of which one enters into an atrium with two rooms on the left, of which one used as a cupboard was next to the steps to the upper rooms, very worn out by use: then comes a corridor with the kitchen on one side and the store-cupboard on the other, and then follows an area surrounded by a portico, under which there are two other rooms, a cupboard, a repository, and in front of the aforementioned corridor two spacious triclinia, with an adjacent room: leaning against the pillar that divided the entrance doorways of the two triclinia was the iron arca (money-chest). In the area, seven dolia, a marble monopodium and a masonry basin are buried in the soil.

See Niccolini F, 1862. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei: Volume Secondo. Napoli, (Descrizione Generale, p. 67, and Tav. XXXIII below).

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. 1932. Large stone used as base for an arca, near south wall of peristyle.

According to Pernice –

The base was found on the south side of the peristyle between 2 rooms in front of a late period wall with brick surround.

The base is irregularly notched at the corners. In the middle there is a fastening pin in the lead cast.

See Pernice, E., 1932. Hellenistische Tische, Zisternenmündungen, Beckenuntersätze, Altäre u. Truhen. Berlin, p. 73, Taf. 43.6.

DAIR 32.1108. Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.

Thanks to Espen B. Andersson for assisting us in our interest in money-chests.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. Pre-1862. See also VII.2.18, as this would also seem to fit the description from that house.

Painting by Niccolini of strong box/money chest, described by Niccolini as being from the house opposite Stabian Baths.

This would appear to be the same “arca” as found in VII.2.18.

VIII.4.12 has mention of a strong box found against a wall in the peristyle/garden, and would be opposite the Stabian Baths.

According to Niccolini –

The bronze chest was made of iron covered by bronze, the decorations that adorned this chest were cast and finely chiselled.

It is now in the Museo Nazionale in the “salone de’ bronzi”.

See Niccolini F, 1862. Le case ed i monumenti di Pompei: Volume Secondo. Napoli, (Descrizione Generale, tav. XXXIII).

According to Espen B. Andersson [email]:

The money chest in this colour photo cannot be from VIII.4.12 because, there the platform has an iron hook on the top of the platform. 

This iron hook is not high enough to get into and secure the four legged chest. The legs lift it up too high. 

The actual chest can therefore not belong to this platform. The central iron hook or rod was always to keep a chest firmly fastened.

Seen against this background VII.2.18 is more likely. 

Our thanks to Espen B. Andersson, for pointing out this information on the cash chest.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. Arca, or strong box.

On display in “L’altro MANN” exhibition, October 2023. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.

According to the Naples Archaeological Museum description card –

“This arca was found in VII.2.18, the House of C. Vibio.” Inv. 73021.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii, according to Niccolini (see above), but VII.2.18 Pompeii, according to Naples Museum and de Longpérier.

Drawing of two cash-chests found at Pompeii, and now in Naples Archaeological Museum.

According to de Longpérier –

“The top cash-chest was from VII.2.18, and found in the atrium on 22nd May 1867”

The lower cash-chest was found 29th May 1864 in the atrium of VII.7.5.”

See H. de Longpérier, Recherches sur les insignes de la questure et sur les récipients monétaires, RA n.s.18. Paris 1868, 58–72, p. 171, Pl. XX.

See https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.25639/page/n5/mode/2up

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking north-west across peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking south along west wall of peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Detail from west wall of peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii, 1968.

Looking west across garden/portico.  Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

J68f1200

According to Wilhelmina, this was a shop-house, with the garden (excavated in 1861) at the rear at the back of two shops (VIII.4.12 and 13).

The garden had a portico on four sides. Seven huge dolia were buried in the soil along the edge of the east half of the garden.

In the south-west corner there was a masonry pool with a little column in the middle, which jetted water. A marble monopodium was also found.

On the right side of the peristyle there was a bronze basin (0.40m in diam.) with a hole in the middle through which a small pipe entered.

On the pipe was a little lion which jetted water from its mouth and throat. The feet of the basin were welded in the form of a ring.

The fragment of a head of a statuette was also found on the right side of the peristyle.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.213).

VIII.4.12 Pompeii, 1968.

Looking towards west portico/garden behind a marble one-legged table-support. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

J68f1199

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking north-east across garden peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Marble item from south side of peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. Looking east across garden/portico.

This drawing by Pierre Gusman is described as a “Storeroom”.

He says – “Some wine-merchants and other dealers simply planted their dolia in the soil of their gardens”.

See Gusman, P. (1900). Pompei, the city, its life and art. London, William Heinemann. (p.287).

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018. Looking north to doorways to rooms on east side of peristyle. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

VIII.4.12 Pompeii. December 2018.

Detail of remaining stucco and vaulted ceiling cornice from an unknown room, perhaps on the east side. ?

Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.