1st-2nd century AD. A substantial bronze figure of a lar household spirit standing nude with a mantle over his left shoulder attached with a strap over his right; wand or handle in the left hand, patera in the right hand; left shoulder pierced; standing on a tiered disc base with square foot. [A video of this item is available to view on TimeLine Auctions website.] See Pitts, L.F. M. Roman Bronze Figurines of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes, BAR British Series 60, Oxford, 1979 for discussion. 952 grams, 19cm (7 1/2"). Property of a Suffolk collector; formerly acquired on the European art market in the 1990s; accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato. Lares were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion, who could protect worshippers and affect the outcome of events in their own location. The city of Rome was protected by a Lar, or Lares, housed in a shrine or sacellum on the city's ancient, sacred boundary, the pomerium.