File:Roman Genius-Paterfamilias figurine (pre-conservation) (FindID 461919).jpg

The cast figurine takes the form of a standing, forward-facing male wearing a toga which is pulled up around the head. The male's left forearm extends forward from the elbow and a patera is held on the palm of the poorly moulded, upturned hand. The figure's right forearm is missing, the well patinated break suggesting that the damage occurred in antiquity. The face, completely framed by the toga, is somewhat stylised: the large lentoid eyes are set within deeply recessed sockets; the brow ridge extends downwards, into a slightly bulbous nose; the mouth is narrow and the lips have a puckered appearance. The face itself has an elongated, angular appearance, the width declining towards a squared chin. A fold of drapery extends diagonally across the upper body, emanating from the base of the makeshift hood and extending to beneath the damaged right arm before curving upwards on the back, petering out behind the right shoulder. On the front of the figurine are a number of less pronounced, parallel folds. The reverse of the figurine is slightly convex, a series of mostly shallow vertical grooves suggesting folds within the toga. At its base the toga juts outwards slightly, the figure's lower legs and forward-facing feet protruding from beneath its flat underside. The underside of the heavily corroded feet display an off-white corrosion product, possibly representing a degraded solder. The side profile reveals the figure to be unnaturally thin, probably indicating that it was designed to be viewed from the front. The figurine measures 65.1mm high, up to 30.6mm wide, 18.1mm deep and weighs 47.9g. When recovered, the artefact was heavily encrusted. Subsequent conservation work has revealed a corroded surface.

Martin Henig (pers. comm.) has identified this piece as a Genius-Paterfamilias, suggesting it is likely to have been set within a house-shrine. Parallels for copper-alloy figurines of this type have been found in Britain, including one excavated from a stratified context within the forum at Silchester (see Pitts 1979: 68-69/pl. 18, no. 92), and a further figurine found in the excavation of a late 3rd to early 5th century Romano-Celtic temple at Lamyatt Beacon, Somerset (Henig in Leach 1986: 277/pl. xxiv/fig. 16, no. 7). The latter example is also illustrated by Kaufmann-Heinimann (1998: 229), along with a further, now lost, figurine from Southbroom, Wiltshire (p. 232). In Pompeii (ibid: 217), there are several examples of Genius-Paterfamilias figurines associated with lararia, such as that on a wall painting in the House of Vettii, which depicts a similar togate male holding a patera. Two further published parallels from the Netherlands are the figurines found at Kornjum and Nijmegen respectively (Zadoks-Josephus Jitta et al 1967: 14-17, no. 8 for Kornjum; and 1969: 48-49, no. 20 for Nijmegen).

As Pitts points out (39-41), the dating of such figurines is problematic. Few figurines have been discovered within securely dated archaeological contexts and, even when this is the case, the longevity of many figurines may mean that the date of deposition is significantly later than that of manufacture. Typological developments are also difficult to observe, given that figurines are rare and tend to be individualistic in nature.