A pair of bronze firedogs. Pyramidical stands on scroll feet, with female terms, swags of fruit and flowers, an eagle and masks. One surmounted by a nude male figure of Mars, wearing a plumed hat, the other a nude Venus with a putto at her feet. Firedogs were made to occupy the tall and wide fireplaces in the principal rooms of Venetian palazzi. Their long back bars supported logs above the floor so that they burnt better. These examples lack a central element between the figures and the bases, the latter probably modelled by Nicolo Roccatagliata (c.1560-c.1636).