LOT 0185

Roman Bronze Statuette of Lar Holding Cornucopia

2ND CENTURY A.D.

5 1/4 in. (264 grams, 13.2 cm).

Possibly representing the god Silvanus, dressed in a short-sleeved tunic, gathered at the waist by a belt, wearing short boots and holding a cornucopia in his left arm; mounted on a polyhedral base.

From a private family collection formed since the early 19th century, thence by descent.
Property of a New Zealand legal professional.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12323-223710.

Cf. Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie grecque et romaine, Paris, 1930, p.497, nos.6, 7 (Madrid and Wien); 499, nos.2, 3, 4, 6; 500 no.2 for the type; Rolland, H., Bronzes Antiques de Haute Provence, Paris, 1965, items 128-131 (especially 131), 454, for comparable examples; Daremberg & Saglio, Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, Paris, 1873-1917; for similar Silvanus as a Lar, see a bronze statuette in the British Museum, museum no. 1865,0712.18, in Walters, H.B., Catalogue of the Bronzes in the British Museum. Greek, Roman & Etruscan Bronzes, London, 1989, no.1523.

Most probably our specimen is from a private house, or private sacellum. The style of the statuette and comparison with other similar pieces points to a dating under the Trajan or Hadrian Empire. The true altar of the lares was the domestic fireplace, centre of the Roman domus, and their temple, the atrium.