V.5 Casa del Mobilio carbonizzato or House of the Wooden Furniture. Excavated 1932-33.
The doorway of ample proportions, the height of the entrance corridor, the architectural scheme of the little atrium, and finally the general arrangement in the traditional manner of the rooms around the atrium and the little back courtyard, are all characteristics of a house pre-Roman in date, plan and structure.
The wall decorations had been renewed and all belonged to the Claudian period and were painted by the same hand though of no particular interest artistically.
The view from the fauces, with the little temple shrine on the end wall of the courtyard, forms a delicious perspective that was intentionally planned by the owner.
A pleasant inside room opens with a triple window upon the little courtyard: against one of the walls there is a wooden triclinium couch in the form of a divan, with the side and head veneered, and beside it a small wooden table.
See Maiuri, Amedeo, (1977). Herculaneum. 7th English ed, of Guide books to the Museums Galleries and Monuments of Italy, No.53 (p.43, Plate XXII, fig. 38).
Wallace Hadrill described this house as with an atrium and garden court with shrine on axis, stairs up by door, 7 reception rooms decorated in III/IV Style, including mythological and mosaic floor in tablinum, opus sectile in one other; 3 service rooms undecorated including kitchen with stairs up. Couch in back reception room gives views through windows of shrine and tablinum decoration.
See Wallace-Hadrill, A., 1994. Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum. New Jersey: Princeton U.P. (p.202)
According to Wallace-Hadrill, at the time of excavation, an exceptionally well-preserved specimen of a wooden couch, together with a round table with three legs was found to have survived. The survival of a wooden couch was valuable for its rarity...... Alas, the decision to leave it on show in the house as a tourist attraction, combined with the lack of maintenance work, has led to its almost complete disintegration.
See Wallace-Hadrill, A. (2011). Herculaneum, Past and Future. London, Frances Lincoln Ltd., (p.211).
See Pesando, F.
and Guidobaldi, M.P. (2006). Pompei,
Oplontis, Ercolano, Stabiae. Editori Laterza, (p.347-8)
See Guidobaldi, M.P. and Esposito, D. (2013). Herculaneum: Art of the Buried City. U.S.A, Abbeville Press, (p.157-161)
Cardo IV Superiore, Herculaneum, September 2015. Looking north, V.5 is on the right.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Step in pavement of Cardo IV Superiore.
V.5 Herculaneum, October 2022. Entrance doorway. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.
V.5 Herculaneum, October 2015. Entrance doorway. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Entrance doorway.
V.5 Herculaneum, May 2010. Looking towards entrance doorway from Cardo IV Superiore.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005. Exterior front facade at south-west end. Photo courtesy of Nicolas
Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Remains of painted plaster on north side of entrance doorway.
V.5 Herculaneum. August 2013. Remains of painted plaster on north side of entrance doorway. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum. August 2013. North side of entrance doorway. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum, October 2022.
Looking east through entrance doorway. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.
V.5 Herculaneum, photo taken between October 2014 and November 2019.
Looking east along
entrance corridor towards atrium. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Looking east along entrance corridor towards atrium.
V.5 Herculaneum. August 2013. Looking east through entrance doorway, during restoration. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. North wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Upper north wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Upper west end of north wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Painted bird from upper north wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Upper east end of north wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. South wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. South wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Upper south wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Upper west end of south wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Painted bird from upper south wall.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Upper east end of south wall of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Floor of entrance corridor.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2016.
Carbonised wooden table with circular top and three legs
decorated with greyhounds. Photo courtesy
of Michael Binns.
See De Carolis, E. (2007). Il mobile a Pompei ed Ercolano, letti tavoli sedie e armadi. Rome, “L’ERMA” de Bretschneider, (p.100).
The location where table was found is not known by us, at present.
Many items of carbonised wooden furniture were found in this house, from which it was named.
See also different carbonised wooden table in Room 8.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2016.
Reverse side of carbonised wooden table with circular top
and three legs decorated with greyhounds. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
See De Carolis,
E. (2007). Il mobile a Pompei ed Ercolano, letti tavoli sedie e armadi.
Rome, “L’ERMA” de Bretschneider, (p.100).
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. East end of entrance corridor, looking across atrium towards tablinum.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015.
East side of atrium with corridor to rear rooms and garden, and north side of tablinum.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2017.
Looking east from entrance corridor towards north/east end of tablinum. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.
Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer, from Dr George Fay’s slides collection.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. North wall of tablinum.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. East side of tablinum, with window overlooking garden.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. South wall of tablinum, on right.
In the mosaic flooring, on the left, the central marble emblema can just be seen.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015.
Detail of a central marble emblems set into mosaic tablinum flooring, photo taken from entrance doorway. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003. Room 4, central marble emblems in flooring. Photo courtesy of
Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Looking through tablinum to small courtyard garden with aedicula shrine.
V.5 Herculaneum. 1964.
Looking through tablinum to small courtyard garden with aedicula shrine. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
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V.5 Herculaneum, May 2018. Looking from window of tablinum towards garden and shrine. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Looking from window of tablinum towards garden and shrine.
The little courtyard, closed all around by a parapet and paved in opus signinum, was chiefly designed to carry away the rainwater to the cistern.
It was decorated with an aedicula lararium.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Aedicula shrine in small garden area.
V.5 Herculaneum, May 2018. Detail of aedicula shrine in small garden area. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum, May 2018. Detail of decorated niche of aedicula shrine. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum, May 2018. Detail of pediment of aedicula shrine. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum, May 2018. Detail of remaining stucco on north side pillar. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
V.5 Herculaneum, May 2018. Detail of stucco on south side pillar. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Room 1, triclinium on south side of entrance courtyard in south-west corner of atrium
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003. Atrium, looking towards south wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas
Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003. Atrium, detail from south wall in south-west corner. Photo
courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2003.
Detail of remaining
plaster decoration on south wall of atrium. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005. South wall of atrium, with doorway to triclinium, room 1, on right.
Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2003.
Room 1, triclinium,
painted decoration from north wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2003.
Room 1, triclinium,
detail of painted decoration from north wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas
Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2003. Room 1, recess in triclinium. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003. Room 1, flooring. Photo courtesy of
Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005.
Masonry stairs to
upper floor, on north side of entrance corridor. Photo courtesy of Nicolas
Monteix.
Rooms 2 and 2a, on north side of steps, on north side of entrance corridor
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2004.
Room 2, looking towards
east wall, with doorway into room 2a, originally part of the same rectangular
room.
Photo courtesy of
Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2004. Room 2, flooring. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003. Room 2, detail of flooring. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
Room 3, cubiculum
A small cubiculum with walls with a black background with remains of the outline of a cornice of the vaulted ceiling: a window opening onto the atrium gave the room the character of a day rest-room.
Room 4, tablinum
(See pictures above, after entrance corridor and atrium)
Room 5, room on south side of tablinum, with window onto garden
Red wall decoration was preserved here, and an elegant apsed niche with a shell-shaped dome was built into one of the walls, which was used to display the images of the deities worshiped by the family of the house.
Next to the apse, in the middle of the wall, was a figurative painting that, although dark and blackened, attests to the ability of the painter of this house to making good figure paintings. It showed Pan lasciviously looking at a sleeping nymph or Hermaphroditus.
V.5 Herculaneum. May 2003. Room 5, apsed niche with shell-shaped dome.
On the right side, part of the painting of Pan and the nymph or Hermaphroditus can be seen.
Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum, wall painting of satyr discovering Hermaphroditus.
Photo with kind permission of Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.
See Wallace-Hadrill, A. (2011). Herculaneum, Past and Future. London, Frances Lincoln Ltd., (p.294)
See Brian Donovan's 360-degree view of room
Corridor next to the
tablinum
This leads
past two rustic rooms, 6 and 7, leading to the rear room and garden area.
Room 6, stairs to rooms situated around the courtyard/garden area
This was a room for the stairs leading up to the rooms situated around the courtyard/garden area, whereas the stairs next to the entrance corridor led up to the rooms overlooking the roadway at the front, and around the atrium at least up until room 3. This second set of stairs had a first step in masonry, and the rest was made of wood: a small door led into the dark and cramped under stairs area, used as a cupboard/storeroom.
Room 7, storeroom/cupboard
This with its rustic walls was used a storeroom/cupboard,
and here were found many of
the household goods which it had been possible to recover from the excavation,
after what had already been removed during the exploration by the tunnels.
Room 8, room with three windows
A peaceful room with three windows overlooking the courtyard/garden, at the rear of the house.
The simple decoration consisted of a black zoccolo/dado with panels decorated with plants, and above this with walls painted in a dark red/purple colour, its panels enclosed by carpet borders.
V.5 Herculaneum. 1964. Windows on north side of garden. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
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V.5 Herculaneum. 1964. North side of garden, looking towards room with three windows. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J64f1174
V.5 Herculaneum. Room 8, looking towards corner of room with carbonised wooden bed and table, in room with three windows.
Photo with kind permission of Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.
See Wallace-Hadrill, A. (2011). Herculaneum, Past and Future. London, Frances Lincoln Ltd., (p.216/217)
V.5 Herculaneum. Room 8, carbonised wooden bed in situ in room with three windows.
Photo with kind permission of Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.
See Wallace-Hadrill, A. (2011). Herculaneum, Past and Future. London, Frances Lincoln Ltd., (p.216/217)
Carbonised wooden table with clawed legs, found in the room with three windows overlooking courtyard.
On display in exhibition entitled – “Materia.
Il legno che non
bruciò ad Ercolano”. Photo courtesy of Maribel Velasco.
V.5 Herculaneum. September 2016.
Carbonised wooden table with clawed legs, found in the room with three windows overlooking courtyard.
Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
V.5 Herculaneum. August 2023. Carbonised wooden table with clawed legs. Photo courtesy of Maribel Velasco.
On
display in exhibition entitled – “Materia. Il
legno che non bruciò ad Ercolano”. Photo
courtesy of Maribel Velasco.
V.5 Herculaneum. August 2023. Detail of wooden top with carbonised wooden table with clawed legs. Photo courtesy of Maribel Velasco.
On
display in exhibition entitled – “Materia. Il
legno che non bruciò ad Ercolano”.
V.5 Herculaneum. May 2005. Room 8, west wall, painted panel of fish. Photo
courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum. September 2003. Room 8,
west wall, painted panel with fish. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum. May 2005. Room 8, west wall at north end, painted panel
with carpet border. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003.
Room 8, detail of
painting from west side of north wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005.
Room 8, painted
panel at west end of north wall, with edging of a carpet border. Photo courtesy
of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005.
Room 8, detail of
painted panel at west end of north wall, with edging of a carpet border. Photo
courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003.
Room 8, painting
from east side of north wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
September 2003.
Room 8, detail of
painting from east side of north wall. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005.
Room 8, detail of
painted panel at east end of north wall, with edging of a carpet border. Photo
courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005. Room 8, painted panel from east wall, with edging of a carpet border.
Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005. Detail from above small window on south wall. Photo courtesy of
Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005. Detail from near taller window in centre of south wall. Photo
courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005. Detail from above small window on south wall. Photo courtesy of
Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2005. Detail of upper wall painting from above doorway in west wall. Photo
courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
Room 9, garden area with aedicula
lararium
V.5 Herculaneum. 1964. Garden room 9. Looking towards east wall with aedicula shrine. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J64f1181
According to Jashemski, the little courtyard at the rear of the house had an elaborate aedicula shrine visible from the entrance corridor.
There were the remains of an animal painting on the east wall.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.267-8)
V.5 Herculaneum. 1964. Garden room 9. Aedicula shrine against east wall of garden. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J64f1173
V.5 Herculaneum.
May 2003. Garden room 9.
Shrine against east
wall of courtyard/garden area. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Monteix.
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Garden room 9. East wall with remains of painted plaster above shrine.
V.5 Herculaneum. 1964. Garden room 9. Looking towards south-east corner. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J64f1183
V.5 Herculaneum, September 2015. Garden room 9. Looking towards south end of east wall.