Marble leg of a table with a tiger's head
The image of a tiger--an animal from India, Armenia, or the area south of the Caspian Sea--was fairly rare in Roman art. But when this animal was depicted, usually it was represented by the female tigress. In myth, Dionysus is sometimes associated with the tiger, riding on its back in processions. This type of stone table leg, common on Roman tables, was generally surmounted by a lion's or panther's head.
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