bather's outfit of Roman date (No. 241), found near Düsseldorf, includes two bronze strigils and an oil-flask attached by rings to a handle (fig. 98), and several glass vases for use in the toilet. (4) The kitchen.-Cases 33-36 contain cooking implements and remains of ancient fruit and grain. The vessels give a good idea of the furniture of a Pompeian kitchen, although there is no FIG. 98. BRONZE STRIGILS AND OIL-FLASK (No. 241). Ca. 2:7. example of elaborate contrivances for preparing hot drinks and keeping food warm, such as have been found at Pompeii (fig. 99). In early times cooking was done either in the courtyard of the house or in the principal living-room. Pompeian houses are, however, generally provided with separate kitchens, small rooms, opening off the court of the peristyle. The hearth is a simple rectangular structure of masonry, sometimes furnished with projecting supports for holding vessels over the fire. The kitchen I implements arranged in these cases do not differ materially from those in modern use, except that they are made of bronze, and frequently have some graceful ornamentation. One or two of the objects call for special remark. On the second shelf from the bottom of Case 34 is an implement with a long handle and a rectangular pan furnished with six circular depressions (No. 242). A circular pan with no fewer than twenty-eight such depressions was found at Pompeii, and is now at Naples. These pans were probably used either for baking cakes or poaching eggs. Two small terracotta moulds (No. 243) in Case 36 were used for stamping flat circular cakes. The plaster cast placed by the side of one of these shows the design, a wicker basket containing bunches of grapes and a pomegranate. Below these are two amphorae for holding wine (Case 35). The one with pointed base D FIG. 99.-BRONZE FOOD-WARMER FROM POMPEII. from Cyprus has the name Polydeukes painted in red on the shoulder (No. 244). In Case 36, on the same shelf as the pan for baking cakes, is a bronze frying-pan (No. 245), with a spout at one corner. Instead of butter, fat, or dripping, the Romans, like the inhabitants of southern countries at the present day, were accustomed to use oil in frying, and the Latin word for a frying-pan (sartago) is said to have come from the hissing sound made by the oil during the process. The shelf above the pans is occupied with ladles and other implements. The handles of the ladles usually terminate in a beautifully modelled head of an animal, such as that of a duck, swan, or dog. The peculiar implement with the broad flat blade (No. 246) may have been used for lifting fish off a pan. On the next shelf above are two painted plates of about the They belong to a well marked 26-7) of plates of Campanian beginning of the third century B.C. class (cf. Fourth Vase Room, Cases fabric, distinguished by the fish and other marine creatures painted upon them. It is probable that they were intended for the serving of fish, and that the circular depression in the centre was meant to hold any water that might strain off. Of the two FIG. 100.-FISH-PLATE (No. 248). Diam. 83 in. examples shown in this case one (No. 247) is decorated with a sea-perch, a sargus (a fish peculiar to the Mediterranean), and a torpedo, the other (No. 248; fig. 100) with a red mullet, a bass, a sargus, and a cuttlefish. Some remains of ancient walnuts, grain, and fragments of calcined bread from Pompeii, and a black cup from Rhodes, containing eggs, are shown in the middle shelf of Case 35. A wall-painting from Pompeii (fig. 101) gives a picture of the peculiarly shaped loaves used in that town, and of fish, fruit, and other articles of domestic consumption. Professional bakers were of comparatively late introduction into Italy. According to Pliny there were none till about 170 B.C. At Athens, however, they are mentioned as early as the fifth century, as are women breadsellers. Aristophanes notes that the latter were conspicuous for the energy of their language, and in the Frogs makes Dionysos warn Aeschylos that it is not permitted to poets to scold like bread-wives. The process of bread-making is illustrated by the terracottas shown in this case. One (No. 249) from Kameiros in Rhodes represents a woman kneading dough on a board placed in a circular trough resting on three legs. Another (No. 250), of much rougher workmanship, shows a bearded man engaged in a like occupation. An interesting terracotta from Boeotia 2 is FIG. 101.-BREAD, FISH AND FRUIT. POMPEIAN WALL-PAINTING. evidence that kneading was sometimes done to the sound of the flute. The strainers, suspended on the left of the case, were used for clearing wine and other liquids, and are in some cases noteworthy for their delicate workmanship. In antiquity knives and forks were not used at table, fingers being mainly employed. Spoons, however, were common, and a considerable number of ancient spoons are exhibited in Case 36. The series of large ivory spoons with elaborately ornamented handles belong to an early period, a similar one coming from the Polledrara tomb at Vulci in Etruria, of the seventh century B.C. The small spoons in bronze or ivory, with round head and handle running to a point, were probably used for the eating of eggs and the extraction of snails from their shells. Snails were a favourite 1 Ran. 857 f.: λοιδορεῖσθαι δ' οὐ θέμις ἄνδρας ποιητὰς ὥσπερ ἀρτοπώλιδας. dish with the Romans, and the spoon got its name (cochlear) from being employed in this way.1 (5) Lighting.-In Case 30 are placed several candelabra used either for the support of wicks floating in an oil-bath or for lamps. Those stands which have come down to us are chiefly of bronze, FIG. 102.-ARCHAIC LAMP- FIG. 103.-ROMAN 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 1 Cf. Martial, xiv. 121: Sum cochleis habilis, sed nec minus utilis ovis : |