A MUSEUM has received a huge funding boost to support its bid to buy an 'internationally significant' Roman mosaic discovered in Dorset and stop it from being exported.

The Association for Roman Archaeology (ARA), a charitable organisation dedicated to fostering an interest in Roman archaeology and art among the general public, has awarded its largest ever grant of £10,000 to Dorset Museum to boost the venue's efforts to purchase the mosaic.

As previously reported, the museum launched an appeal back in October to raise £135,000 to buy the piece which dates back to the 4th Century AD, and was discovered in the grounds of a Roman villa in Dewlish, near Dorchester, in 1974.

The mosaic, which shows a leopard attacking an antelope, was sold for £28,000 by the owner of Dewlish House at auction in 2018 to an antiques dealer who has subsequently sold the fragment to an overseas buyer.

A campaign was launched by a Dewlish group to prevent the piece from being sent abroad and, in July, the government placed a temporary export ban on the fragment.

The ban was due to expire on October 16, but has now been extended until January after Dorset County Museum expressed an interest in buying the mosaic.

The museum is working closely with Arts Council England and the V&A Purchase Grant to raise enough money to purchase the piece and the £10,000 boost from the ARA will be a significant step forward.

Dr Jon Murden, director of Dorset Museum, said: "It's a critical part of this county's heritage as well as being internationally significant.

"I am incredibly confident that we will be able to purchase it - so confident we have already identified a place for it when the museum reopens in the spring."

Speaking on behalf of the ARA, trustee Anthony Beeson said: "The exceptional quality of this 4th century AD Romano-British mosaic, its importance in the history of British art as the earliest realistic portrayal of an animal, and the exciting educational prospects that its presence in the museum will engender, convinced the members of the Board of Trustees to make the grant."

The museum is also fundraising for the £753,000 it needs to complete its £15m redevelopment project before it reopens in the spring.

For more information, visit the Dorset Museum website.