MosaicBlues: Recurring patterns in Ceramic and Mosaic Arts in the Antiquity. .entry-content { font-size:25px !important; }

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Recurring patterns in Ceramic and Mosaic Arts in the Antiquity.



A pattern is a particular way in which something is done or organized, or in which something happens.


What is fascinating about them is that patterns seem to perdure possibly forever, once they have been set. 


This glazed tile, dated 875 - 850 BC is part of the collections of the British Museum. It was excavated from royal palace of the Assyrian city of Nimrud, which was first destroyed at the end of the 7th century BC and again by islamist terrorists in 2015.


Baked clay tile from British Museum Assyria Collection glazed and painted in yellow, green and black; an Assyrian king,(possibly Ashurnasirpal II) with cup in one hand and bow in the other, is accompanied by his bodyguard and attendants; it was probably part of a sequence showing the king as triumphant warrior and hunter; the king stands under a canopy with officers behind him; inscription erased; guilloche border; outline in black upon a pale yellow background.

The tile depicts an Assyrian king, possibly Ashurnasirpal II who reigned during the early 9th century BC, accompanied by soldiers and attendants.
Now what really got my interest when I first saw this picture was not the representation of another victorious king, (They never seem to represent losers. I wonder why ?) but the rounded decorative pattern of the border below the King.

A thousand year later Roman mosaicists laid this beautiful mosaic of a boxing scene from the Aeneid on the floor of a Gallo-Roman Villa in Villelaure (France) .

Boxing scene from the Aeneid, Sicilian champion Entellus defeats the young Trojan champion Dares. Blood spurts from Dares' injured head. Entellus sacrificed his prize, a bull, by landing a great blow to the animal's head. Both boxers wear cesti. Mosaic floor from a Gallo-Roman villa in Villelaure (France), ca. 175 AD.

Look at the Borders... 1000 years separate them...

Guilloche Decorative patterns from an Assyrian Royal Palace and a Gallo Roman Villa from Southern France



If you watch close, history does nothing but repeat 
itself... 


I'll be traveling to Europe for 3 weeks to visit my family and explore and study several Roman mosaics in France and build up my library of borders.  Stay tuned !


Frederic Lecut is a French mosaicist.
In 1992 he made Alabama his home.
His Art is about inspiring People.

You can contact him either 
by phone at (334) 798 1639 or email at 
You can also subscribe to his


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