The Story So Far

5 years ago I found the copper alloy tortoise shown below on the left. I thought that it was a recent toy as it was in such good condition.

I thought nothing more of it until 3 years ago when I found the cockerel shown below centre in another part of the same field. The style looked very similar. The carving was the same and the surface was covered by a smooth, even patina. Another toy?

Two years ago while visiting Verulamium museum in St. Albans I saw a Roman statue of Mercury surrounded by statues of a tortoise, a cockerel and a ram. On further reading, it appears that the God Mercury was a very popular god with the early romano-british and often appeared in household shrines and temples. He was usually accompanied by statues of a ram, a cockerels and a tortoise. I returned to the site to see if, after 2000 years, the Mercury and ram statues were still there.

Last year I was fortunate enough to find the small ram shown below right in perfect condition.

Mercury - where are you?