Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 2nd to 3rd century CE. A very fine Roman stone mosaic comprised of thousands of stone tesserae, depicting the head of Oceanus, the personification of the ocean, against a blue background, surrounded by a geometric border with illusionistic recessions - all delineated in a rich palette of peach, beige, grey, black, brown, and gold hues on a pale blue ground. The deity has wavy hair framing his bearded/mustachioed face, with one large tuft rising above the forehead. Two opposing lobsters emerge from the top of the god's head, thus identifying him as Oceanus. The panel is framed by two rows of black tesserae with a decorative border of cubes seen in perspective. In addition, a section of a geometric design is present to the right. Size: 28.5" W x 26.75" H (72.4 cm x 67.9 cm); 30" W x 28.125" H (76.2 cm x 71.4 cm) including matrix and metal frame
Cf. mosaics in the Bardo Museum, illustrated in Michele Blanchard-Lemee et. al, "Mosaics of Roman Africa: Floor Mosaics from Tunisia" (London, 1996), figs. 80 and 84, pp. 120 & 125.
Published in "Timeless Treasures." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 2010, cat. no. 40.
Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-private Mazard Family collection, Paris, France, acquired in the 1970s; Published in "Timeless Treasures." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 2010, cat. no. 40.
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#146424
Condition
Expected losses, stains, and fissures to some tesserae as shown. Suspension hardware on verso. Stone tesserae are ancient, matrix and metal frame are modern.