Give a dog a home: The Dog of Alcibiades

Q. What is the Dog of Alcibiades

A. 'The Dog of Alcibiades' - also known as the 'Jennings Dog' - is a twice-lifesize marble sculpture of a Molossian Hound, the ancestor of modern mastiffs and Rottweilers. At 1.2m (4ft) high, this colossal beast - dating probably from the 2nd century AD - is a Roman copy of a lost Hellenistic Greek bronze original, and is regarded as one the finest images of any animal to have survived from the classical world.

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Molossian Hounds were native to the region of Epirus in Greece, and it is thought that the sculpture may have been connected with a civic monument there.

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Q. Why the 'Jennings Dog'

A. After its first modern owner, Henry Constantine 'Dog' Jennings, who acquired the statue and brought it back to England in about 1750 from Rome, where it had been unearthed and restored in the early 18th century. Because the dog has no tail, Jennings believed that it is a representation of the hound that Alcibiades, an Athenian general, is said to have mutilated in order to give the people something to talk about other than himself.

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Jennings was very proud of his acquisition, saying, 'A fine dog it was, and a lucky dog was I to purchase it.'

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Q. Who was Alcibiades

A. Alcibiades (450-404BC) was a brilliant but unscrupulous and self-serving Athenian politician and general, who stirred up sharp political divisions in Athens that were the main causes of Athens and its allies being defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (431-404BC).

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Q. What happened to the statue after it arrived in the UK

A. The statue was sold to the Duncombes banking family in Yorkshire in 1816. Now a descendant of the family is offering the it for sale. The owner tried to do a deal for the British Museum - where it is currently on display - to buy it in the 1980s, but nothing was settled at the time. However, the owner is still keen for the dog to remain in Britain, even though the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, has expressed an interest.

Meanwhile, Arts Minister Tessa Blackstone has put a temporary export ban on the piece.

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Q. Why does the British Museum think it's so important

A. Because it is thought to be the only surviving example of Hellenistic animal sculpture copied during the Roman period. The museum has stated that the sculpture is very important for the study of Greek and Roman sculpture, being, as they say, of 'outstanding aesthetic quality'.

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Q. How much do they need to raise and when is the deadline

A. �662,000 by 26 August 2001. The museum says it has had a great deal of support from the public, and there is a collection box next to the statue in the BM.

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Q. Are any other artefacts currently subject to an export ban

A. Other than the 'Dog of Alcibiades' there are six works of art on hold while the government waits for offers from British institutions or private individuals.

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Q. And they are

A. As follows:

* Three English 15th-century oak figures: �220,000

* A 16th-century drawing by Parmigianino, 'Ganymede Serving Nectar To the Gods': �224,138

* Two sets of early George II mirrors and console tables designed by John Vardy: �1,200,000

* An 18th-century watercolour by William Blake, 'God Blessing the Seventh Day': �1,369,488

* A Regency bronze and ormolu hanging light by James Deville: �110,569