b'The Wilton Roman MosaicBased on the work of John IbsonW e cannot tell you where the nearest authenticthings to do in and around the new house, not least Roman mosaic is to the centre of Bishop Wilton,the garden.but we can tell you the location of the nearest copy!After nearly a year of intermittant effort, the mosaic Its at the new home of John and Pam Ibson. was finished and modestly unveiled in January of Having an urge to create a mosaic floor, John had 2008.the ideal place to put it in the new house that was builtUntil another is unearthed, this will remain Bishop in 2006. For inspiration he made use of a local source,Wiltons only Roman mosaic.the Roman displays at the Hull and East Riding Museum which include mosaics from north and south of the Humber. A museum brochure describes the displays as the best single collection of late Roman mosaics to be seen in Britain today. Using the museum brochure 1 , John based his plan on a mosaic found in the early 1970s at Rudston called The Charioteer Mosaic (see inset for details).From the photographs of the finished work (the one with John in it gives you an idea of the overall size) you can imagine what an undertaking it was even without considering where you get the individual pieces of the mosaic 2from. While John was able tocut up some larger tiles to make some of the lighter coloured small pieces, to achieve the colours required he had to make his own (see the photograph of John holding some of these). This he did byThe completed mosaic in situ at John Ibsons house, Bishop Wilton.using cement and sand along with a range of dyes. The monochrome photographsJohns copy of the Rudston mosaic:do not show the range of. depicts a victorious charioteer . in his quadriga or four-horse chariot colours in the finished work. holding the symbols of victory - in his left hand a palm frond and in his or its faithfulness to theraised right hand a wreath, the winners crown. On his head he wears a original mosaic. round grey cap or crash helmet and around his arms and body leather Having started on thisbindings and a corselet to protect him in the event of an accident. The major undertaking, it becamecolour of his tunic proclaims him a charioteer of the russata factio, the clear to John that he wasntred clubgoing to be able to commit himself full-time to this singleDescription taken from the Hull Museum brochure.task. There were many other 1D. J. Smith, Roman Mosaics at Hull, Hull Museums and Art Gallery, 2005.2Called tessarae by the experts, in Roman times these were tiny cubes individually cut from localstone of various tints and colours, or from old brick or tiles.BULLETIN 17 323'