Roman Fresco Coasters at Getty Museum Store
By STAN PARCHIN
October 28, 2009
The J. Paul Getty Museum has produced four coasters with colorful images, each adapted from classical Roman fresco fragments in its Antiquities collection, for its line of home and office gifts. The original works decorated the walls of a triclinium or dining room in ancient villas. Each coaster, made of a resin that imitates antique wall plaster and suitable for framing, measures 3 1/4 in. square and costs $12.95.
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| Roman Fresco Coasters. J. Paul Getty Museum Store. |
Four Styles of Coasters
Fresco Fragment with Cupids and Psyche Making Perfume (50-75 A.D.) is taken from a larger Fourth Style wall painting in Rome, executed at the time of Mount Vesuvius' volcanic eruption in 79 A.D. The coaster features a Cupid holding an alabastron, a type of pottery used for perfume or oil, while a seated Psyche smells her scented arm.
Wall Fragment with a Woman on a Balcony (9 B.C.-14 A.D.) depicts an unknown female sipping a liquid from a shallow cup while resting an oinochoe or pitcher on a railing. The subject of this architecturally illusionistic Second Style work may be Methe, the Bacchic nymph of drunkenness and a companion of the god Dionysus.
Fresco Fragment with Peacock (ca. 70 A.D.) shows the fanciful bird standing atop a dark red fence. Romans imported expensive peacocks from India as pets, sacred animals and culinary delicacies. Associated with Juno, the patron goddess of Rome, peacocks also functioned as status symbols of the wealthy patrician class.
Wall Fragment with Winged Female (Nike) on Black Ground (ca. 70 A.D.), adapted from a Roman fresco in Boscoreale, Italy, illustrates Nike, the winged Greek goddess of victory, holding two garlands.