File:Roman figurine (FindID 801499).jpg

English: A cast copper alloy zoomorphic figurine, possibly of a dog or otter, and probably dating to the Roman period. The body is long and slender, and very straight. The animal is depicted standing on all four legs. Each leg is thick and short, with a short forward facing foot, except the front left foot which is longer. The shorter feet may be incomplete, but there are no obvious breaks.

The tail has been made into a loop. It tapers at the start (the body end) for a short distance, then flares as it turns to form the loop, and is widest at the end where it rejoins the body, just above the start. The perforation thus formed is neatly oval.

There is a long wide slot under the animal running from between the front legs to the middle of the rear legs, either for mounting or fitting the figurine onto something, or perhaps merely to save metal.

The surface of the animal appears to be crudely modelled, although it is also now rather worn and battered. The head appears to have a small groove to represent a mouth, but other than that no other features are obvious; there are no ears.

The colour is dark brown. Weight 44.9g, length 70.10mm, height 43.42mm, width 13.96mm.

There are several similar figurines on the PAS database, shown standing and crudely modelled.HAMP2955 has longer legs. KENT-EFC7F6 is very incomplete, but has a similar hollow under the body. SF8669 has a similar long straight body. There are also several figurines of sitting dogs.

It seems probable that all of these disparate figurines are Roman, although note the comment from Catherine Johns on the record of HAMP2955. This object is also fairly similar to the homogeneous group of perforated animal figurines thought to be medieval candle-holders (e.g.BERK-3F1C48).

It is thought that dogs were symbols of hunting, healing and regeneration in the Roman world, and that some, although not all, small figurines may have been made as votive offerings (Smith 2006, 53 and 72).