Figure of a Mouse

Copper alloy figure of a mouse holding what looks like fruit to his mouth with his forepaws. Bronze sculptures are frequently identified as votive offerings but very little is known about such bronze mice. They may well have been freestanding household decoration or stood atop larger objects. Catalogued along with the Egyptian collection by Professor Percy Newberry in early 1900s (as Hellenistic) but could well be from a Mediterranean location. Compare with a similar bronze figure of a mouse. 1975,0301.3 in the British Museum (Dept. of Greek & Roman Antiquities).