They were both practical and visually stunning works of art. The stone tesserae created hard-wearing, easy-to-clean floors. Decorative designs ranged from simple to complex. For those who could afford them, they were a status symbol which demonstrated the home owner’s wealth and good taste

Heraclitus was inspired by an ancient Greek decorative theme known as ‘unswept floor’ (asàrotos òikos). He created this mosaic, seemingly covered with scraps of food from a banquet, for the dining room of a villa on the Aventine Hill in Rome. Read more: understandingrome.substack.com/p/the-unswep...

So realistic!

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Here’s my “set” picked up at an estate sale a couple of years ago. That’s William & friends, most likely from the Met. Garish blue, though.

I realised I hadn’t posted a blue hippo for almost 3 months. Made up for it by posting four!

Ahhh the memories! Here is me giving a guided tour of Phil Barker's excavations when I was 18 in 1983. #Wroxeter #Shropshire #RomanArchaeology #excavation

These Egyptian blue faience hippos date to the Middle Kingdom, Late 11th to 12th Dynasties, c. 2025–1795 BC. This was before the reign of Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) during the New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, c. 1380 BC to 1336 BC.

Egyptian blue faience was perhaps developed to imitate the semi-precious stone turqouise. The “shiny, bright blue glaze” was a colour “closely linked with fertility, life, and the gleaming qualities of the sun”. Read more in the article on this link: www.metmuseum.org/essays/egypt...

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Please don’t make me choose! 😂

Oh my! Lucky you! Utterly adorable! 🦛🦛🦛 😍