TimeLine Auctions Limited
Lot 350
1st-2nd century AD.
A bronze figurine of a lar (household deity) standing wearing a loose tunic with knotted band to the waist and shoulder, wreath to the brow, patera in the extended right hand, left hand open to accept a cornucopia. 166 grams, 10.5cm (4"). Fine condition.
Property of a gentleman; acquired in the late 1960s-early 1970s.
Cf. Rolland, H. Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, item 129.
The Roman home not only functioned as a private dwelling, but also as a public manifestation of an individual's wealth and prestige as exemplified by the atrium of the house that acted as a meeting room for conducting business. These would be lavishly decorated and would also include a household shrine, or lararium. The Roman house was also at the heart of private devotion, for all levels of society, and household shrines would range from a simple shelf with pottery figures for the poor, to a shrine painted on a wall, and with the very wealthy having small scale temples, and even entire rooms known as sacella, housing expensive bronze images of the gods, such as this one. Any of the gods could be worshipped in the household shrine, from the gods of Olympus, through to the more exotic deities from the provinces, such as Isis or Cybele, but each one was required to house a set of three traditional deities that were the focus of attention. These were the Penates, gods of the home, the Genius, the spirit of the master of the household, and the Lares, spirits of the familial ancestors and their territory. Prayers, libations and sacrifices were performed for these deities to ensure the welfare of the family and the home. The Lares themselves were twins whose origins are shrouded in mystery, even to the Romans themselves. They not only acted as guardians of the home, but also fields, crossroads and individual cities. The poet Ovid in the Fasti, describes them as being the children of a nymph named Lara, and the god Mercury. Their main festival was known as the Compitalia, where they were worshipped at communal stone altars built at street corners in towns and cities where great festivities were held.
