The Leopards Panel
#SUBHEADING#The Leopards Panel#SUBHEADINGEND# 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. #SUBHEADING#Weird Creatures#SUBHEADINGEND# The mosaic depicts two leopards leaping towards a 'crater' - a bowl for mixing water and wine. The vessel has a fluted body and is shown as though just below eye level. Although the animals are fairly naturalistic, the colouring is anything but with green coats and blue spots! It is likely, as with the animals on the Venus Mosaic also from Rudston villa, that the mosaicists were copying the design from a pattern-book and had never seen a leopard in the flesh. #SUBHEADING#Drink Up!#SUBHEADINGEND# The use of the 'crater' links the design to Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry. This is a common theme in mosaics intended for Roman dining rooms. The link can also be seen in the vines and bunches of grapes that appear in the borders of the Venus Mosaic. #SUBHEADING#What we have lost#SUBHEADINGEND# The Leopards Panel was found in the centre of a double room in Building 8 at Rudston Villa. The Charioteer Mosaic was at the north-western end of the room and another mosaic, known as 'The Mosaic of Small Figures', formed the floor of the south-eastern half. Unfortunately this part of the room had been much damaged by the laying of a pipe trench in the 19th century and only tantalising fragments of the mosaic remain. #SUBHEADING#'The Mosaic of Intersecting Circles'#SUBHEADINGEND# In an adjoining room to the south west the excavators found another mosaic, also sadly damaged. This was called 'The Mosaic of Intersecting Circles' and was clearly not the first mosaic in the room as the wall plaster was seen to carry on below its level. Although this mosaic was lifted and transferred to Hull Museums, the operation was not nearly as successful as the lifting of the other mosaics from the site. It seems that the pavement was not allowed sufficient time to dry before being coated and rolled for removal. The remains are today very fragmentary and unfortunately cannot be displayed.
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 Rudston Venus mosaic
The Venus Mosaic came from the largest room in the first house built at a Roman villa near Rudston, East Yorkshire. The intact mosaic with its oblong side-panels would have measured 4.67m x 3.2m. It dates to the later 3rd century AD.
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!
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.
