House of the Small Fountain, Pompeii

The House of the Small Fountain, aka House of the Second Fountain or House of the Landscapes, is located in the Roman city of Pompeii and, with the rest of Pompeii, was preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in or after October 79 CE [1]. The house is named after a mosaic fountain adorned with shells at the rear of its peristyle [1]. The house was originally two Samnite period structures merged during the Roman period to create a double atrium house [1]. At the time of the eruption, the home was being repaired because of damage sustained in the earthquake of 62 CE [1]. Although part of the facade of the house may have been exposed in December 1826 while work progressed on the House of the Large Fountain, the earnest excavation of the House of the Small Fountain did not begin until February 1827 and continued in March and April [1]. Four statuettes found around the mosaic fountain in the pseudo-peristyle included a bronze putto embracing a goose fitted with a water jet in the bird's beak [1].