A ROMAN TERRACOTTA PLAQUE WITH BROTHEL SCENE, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D. | A Roman Terracotta Plaque with Brothel Scene

moulded in relief with an apparent narrative unfolding in three scenes from left to right and divided by architectural elements, the first vignette depicting the encounter of a man and woman accompanied by a dog, a phallus on a column at left, the second showing a man and woman embracing in a doorway, and the third two couples engaging in sexual activity on couches, egg-and-dart moulding along the lower edge, a fragmentary Latin inscription engraved prior to firing above the scenes.

Dr. Sylvia Senter (1921-2013), New York, probably acquired by her mother in Rome in the 1960s (consistent with style of custom-made base and mounting)
by descent to the present owner

Fragmentary as shown. Surface weathered, with traces of white gesso overall, used probably as coating for addition of now missing pigments. Edges chipped and abraded. TL test results available upon request.
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For a related Roman marble relief fragment see Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. no. RES.08.34d (M. B. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Sculpture in stone: the Greek, Roman and Etruscan collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 1976, no. 116; http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/relief-with-herakles-and-omphale-or-a-nymph-151119).