KITCHENS AND DINING ROOMS AT POMPEII ... - Get a Free Blog

The three masonry dining-couches of the DO in (23) make its identification simple (Fig. 5.89). the
lectus summus and imus are both 4.40 m. long; the lectus medius, divided into two parts by the
water channel serving the central fountain, has two sections each 2.30 m. in length. The four
columns that support the bower above the couches are built into the corners of the couches.
The storage of serving and eating wares for use at table in DR (10), DI•(16), DH (17) and the DO
in (23) seems to have been concentrated on the W edge of atrium (A"), in rooms (13-14). Room
(13), of a form and location that suggests it may once have been a tablinum, contained many items
put away in chests. Among them were four gilded bronze statuettes carrying silver trays upon
which pastries were assumed to have been placed (see Jashemski 1979, 94, Fig. 149), and
numerous terracotta and glass lids, cups and plates. The walls of room (14) are lined with holes
set at regular intervals, indicating the presence of shelving; fittings from cupboards and chests
indicate additional storage. As (Allison, 279) notes, this room contained "a large quantity of
pottery and glass vessels, including large and small storage vessels, eating and drinking vessels,
and a decorated bronze krater or mixing bowl...". The location of both of these rooms was
convenient to serve all of the dining areas in the S part of the house; the quality and value of the
objects are moreover commensurate with the fine decoration of those dining areas. One other
area in the house is described as a cella penaria by Maiuri. The narrow room (18) adjacent to DH
(17) has a high shelf (h. 0.75 m.) along the W side of the wall; this feature and the narrow form of
the room suggests storage, but only one amphora and one rectangular iron brazier (Fig. 1.12)
were found actually found here. The room does have a tunnel-hole in its E wall, proving it was
subject to salvage, but it is unclear whether the room was largely cleaned out prior to the
eruption or whether it stood largely empty. Despite the room's convenient location, Allison's
argument (contra Maiuri) that the room did not explicitly serve the storage needs of DH (17) is
convincing, at least at the time of the eruption. Its original design, however, seems clearly
predicated on its usefulness for handling events held in DH (17). Given the provision of three
well-equipped kitchens that served the rooms around each of the three nodes of the house, the
brazier should be interpreted as an accessory to the kitchens, as a device for keeping food warm
near or inside the dining areas, and perhaps to provide additional heat for gatherings held in DR
(10), DI•(16) or DH (17) during the winter months. In the summertime, the brazier might be
expected to be stored away, as were the braziers in I.6.15 (l) and I.7.1 (15).
I) Decorative amenities, cooking areas: Patches of simple white coarse plaster bedeck the walls of
DR/KI (7), KI (8) and KI (21). Pernice describes an opus signinum floor with scattered inset stones
in DR/KI (7).
Decorative amenities, dining areas: As mentioned above, DR/KI (7) has rough white plaster on
the walls and an opus signinum floor. The layout and pavement of this room appear by all the
evidence to belong to the original second century phase, when the building at #10 was an
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