Ellipses, Cushions and Bells. A Family of -Mostly- North African Mosaic Pavements

The purpose of this article is to characterize a family of geometric mosaic decors which are especially well represented in North Africa (17 pavements on 24) and especially in Tunisia (14 pavements), extending from the second to the fourth century AD. Their common feature is to include three shapes not very frequently found in mosaic, namely the so-called “ellipse”, “cushion” and “bell”. We assume that these “ellipses” are in fact ovals, similar to those used for building the Roman amphitheaters. In the present case they are inscribed in a square and most often carried out following a same process, quite easy to implement (23 pavements). The general pattern of these pavements is set on a grid of bands, the ovals being inscribed in the larger squares of the grid. The other arcs of circles, delineating the cushions and bells, are also carried out in close relationship with this grid. A major element of −relative− variability is the ratio between the widths of the two sorts of bands, thus leaving more space or less for the bells and cushions, and consequently for their respective inner decors.