A dictionary of Greek and Roman . resses, which were oftenof a light colour, they frequently needed, in thehot climate of Italy, a thorough purification. Theway in which this was done has been described byPliny and other ancient writers, but is mostclearly explained by some paintings which have beenfound on the walls of a fullonica at Pompeii. Twoof these paintings are given by Gell (Pompeiana,vol. ii. pi. 51, 52), and the whole of them in theMuseo Borbonico (vol. iv. pi. 49, 50) ; from theN N 4 552 FULLO. latter of which works the following cuts have been taken. The clothes were
A dictionary of Greek and Roman . resses, which were oftenof a light colour, they frequently needed, in thehot climate of Italy, a thorough purification. Theway in which this was done has been described byPliny and other ancient writers, but is mostclearly explained by some paintings which have beenfound on the walls of a fullonica at Pompeii. Twoof these paintings are given by Gell (Pompeiana,vol. ii. pi. 51, 52), and the whole of them in theMuseo Borbonico (vol. iv. pi. 49, 50) ; from theN N 4 552 FULLO. latter of which works the following cuts have been taken. The clothes were first washed, which was donein tubs or vats, where they were trodden upon andstamped by the feet of the fullones, whenceSeneca (Ep. 15) speaks of saltus fullonicus. Thefollowing woodcut represents four persons thus em-ployed, of whom three are boys, probably underthe superintendence of the man. Their dress istucked up, leaving the legs bare ; the boys seem tohave done their work, and to be wringing thearticles on which they had been The ancients were not acquainted with soap, butthey used in its stead different kinds of alkali, bywhich the dirt was more easily separated from theclothes. Of these, by far the most common wasthe urine of men and animals, which was mixedwith the water in which the clothes were washed.(Plin. 77. N. xxviii. 18. 26 ; Athen. xi. p. 484.)To procure a sufficient supply of it, the fulloneswere accustomed to place at the corners of thestreets vessels, which they carried away after theyhad been filled by the passengers. (Martial, vi. 93 ;Macrob. Saturn, ii. 12.) We are told by Suetonius( Vesp. 23) that Vespasian imposed a urinae vectigal,which is supposed by Casaubon and others to havebeen a tax paid by the fullones. Nitrum, of whichPliny (H. N. xxxi. 46) gives an account, was alsomixed with the water by the scourers. Fullers1earth (creta fullonia, Plin. H. N. xviii. 4), of whichthere were many kinds, was employed for thesame purpose. We do not
Size: 2179px × 1147px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithwilliam18131893, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840
