Everything you always wanted to know about mosaics
#SUBHEADING#The First Mosaics#SUBHEADINGEND# The earliest mosaics were made in Greece in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. These were made of black and white pebbles set into patterns - the use of colour was rare. By the 2nd century BC tesserae - small, specially hand-cut cubes of stone, marble, clay and glass - were being used. The use of tesserae meant that more complicated designs were possible. #SUBHEADING#How Were Mosaics Made?#SUBHEADINGEND# The design was chosen, often from a pattern book of fairly standard designs, and the number of tesserae required was calculated and made in the right size, shape and colour. It has been estimated that the Rudston Charioteer Mosaic contains some 150,000 tesserae! Tesserae were either made in the stonemason's workshop or on the site where the new floor was to be laid. The mosaic had to be well-drained so if possible it was laid over a hypocaust system. Where there was no hypocaust a foundation of pounded sand, gravel or rubble was constructed. A layer of concrete, opus signinum (containing crush brick or tile) or lime mortar was then spread over the foundation. The tesserae were set into the top layer while it was still slightly wet and grouted with a slurry of fine mortar. The pattern was sometimes marked out on the surface first and the tesserae laid out using rules and set-squares. The mosaic was then rolled and polished. #SUBHEADING#What Materials Were Used?#SUBHEADINGEND# Tesserae were made out of whatever materials were locally available. Materials were rarely imported into Britain specifically for mosaic-making. However, if chippings or broken fragments of imported marble, glass or pottery were available these were utilised. Different materials were carefully chosen for their colour. The Venus Mosaic, from the villa at Rudston includes tesserae in red, bluish black, grey, yellow ochre, brown, green and white. #SUBHEADING#How Did They Choose The Design?#SUBHEADINGEND# The designs of mosaic floors were very similar throughout the Roman world, the same themes and motifs occurring again and again. This is partly due to the mobility of the craftsmen who moved around the provinces but also due to the use of pattern books from which home-owners would chose a suitable design. The pattern books do not seem to have been slavishly copied however, and some individuality was possible - for example, the use of the gladiatorial animals in the Venus Mosaic. #SUBHEADING#Who Made Mosaics?#SUBHEADINGEND# Mosaic making was an alien art to the British before the Roman Conquest so many of the earlier mosaics would have been made by craftsmen from Italy or Greece. They probably trained local people in the art and it is likely that the Venus Mosaic was made by one of these native trainees. #SUBHEADING#How Do Archaeologists Lift Mosaics?#SUBHEADINGEND# There are two principal methods of lifting mosaics. In both methods the mosaic is first secured by sticking gauze to its surface with water-soluble adhesive. The most common method is to lift the mosaic in sections. Vertical cuts are made along the design lines to minimise ugly joints when the sections are reassembled. As the bedding is carefully undercut boards are slid underneath and the section lifted. The second method is rolling and this is the way most of the mosaics on display in the Hull and East Riding Museum were lifted. This is only possible if the bedding is fairly soft and the surface of the mosaic is level. The mosaic is slowly rolled up, usually in one piece, around a reinforced drum while being slowly undercut.
Everything you always wanted to know about mosaics
Everything you always wanted to know about mosaics and had no one to ask. Read this narrative to find out more about mosaics, how they were made, what they were made of, how they chose their designs and who made them.
Rock and Roll! - Or How to Lift a Mosaic
Rock and Roll! - Or How to Lift a Mosaic. This narrative will show you how mosaics are lifted out of the ground so they can be displayed in museums for all to see.
The Brantingham Geometric Mosaics
The Roman villa at Brantingham, 3km northwest of Brough in East Yorkshire, was first discovered in 1941 when two geometric mosaics were found in a stone quarry known as the 'Cockle Pits'. They were recorded and then reburied. What followed is one of the biggest mysteries in Yorkshire archaeology.
The Brantingham Tyche Mosaic
The so-called 'Tyche Mosaic' was discovered in 1961at the site of a large villa near Brantingham, about 3km northwest of Brough in East Yorkshire.The mosaic features a distinctive figure at the centre wearing a crown and surrounded by a nimbus or halo. Some experts believe this figure is a 'Tyche' (pronounced tie-key), a personification of a province or tribe, and this has given the mosaic its name.
The Leopards Panel
The so-called 'Leopards Panel' was found in 1971 at the 4th century Roman villa at Rudston, East Yorkshire. It formed the floor of a threshold into the room of the Charioteer Mosaic and may have been placed under an archway. Like its neighbour it dates to between about 325 and 350 AD.
The Horkstow Mosaic
The Horkstow Mosaic is one of the largest and most interesting mosaics ever found in Britain. It was uncovered in 1797 by labourers making a kitchen garden at Horkstow Hall in Lincolnshire and would have graced a large hall at a very wealthy and sophisticated 4th century Roman villa.
The Rudston Aquatic Mosaic
The Aquatic Mosaic paved the 'apodytherium' or changing room of the bath-house at the Roman villa near Rudston, East Yorkshire. It was discovered in 1933 together with the Venus Mosaic and the Swastika Mosaic.
The Rudston Charioteer Mosaic
The Charioteer Mosaic is one of the most striking and unusual mosaics to have been found so far in Roman Britain. Named after the central figure standing on a 'quadriga' or four-horse chariot, it paved a large room at a 4th century AD villa near Rudston, East Yorkshire. It is thought to have been laid between about 325 and 350 AD.
The Rudston Swastika Mosaic
This remarkably complete mosaic is known as the Swastika or Geometric Mosaic and was found in 1933 at the Roman villa near Rudston, East Yorkshire. It came from the central room of the same house as the Venus and Aquatic Mosaics which are also displayed at the Hull and East Riding Museum. The mosaic measures 2.75m square and dates to the later 3rd century AD, the same date as the Venus Mosaic.
The Story of the Horkstow Mosaic
This famous mosaic was found in 1797 by labourers preparing a kitchen garden at Horkstow Hall, Lincolnshire. Unfortunately they destroyed large areas of it before realising the importance of what they had unearthed - a mosaic floor belonging to great hall of a large and wealthy villa.
The Story of the Rudston Mosaics
The Roman villa near Rudston, East Yorkshire, first came to light in 1838 when walls, roofing tiles, wall plaster and the remains of a mosaic floor were found by farm workers. Unfortunately most of the pavement was destroyed by the same workers - they dug it up in the hope of finding treasure!
