The objects below come from different cultures and dates, and depict animals in ways that reflect our different relationships with them. Humans have kept animals as pets, domesticated them to work or provide sustenance, and have used them as symbols to represent the character of an individual or a community.

Wooden model of a man ploughing with oxen from Ancient Egypt

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Clay model of a saddled horse from China

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Marble statue of a pair of dogs from Ancient Rome

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Woodcut of a rhinoceros by Albrecht Duhrer

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The head of a stone lion from Assyria, present-day Iraq

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Bronze boar pendants from Hounslow, England

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Japanese netsuke of a rat, a kirin and a bird's claw

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