Can anyone help with identifying this engraving please?

[mike thomas]

Not sure if this post would be better suited to poetry/Shakespeare's Sonnets, but as it is regarding an engraved work of art, I thought this might be a better place.

I have uploaded the item in question. It's from the top of the title page of "Shakespeare's Sonnets" and shows two grotesque animals: my question is this: what are they meant to be? Lions? dolphins? dogs?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

[YesNo]

I do see a couple of rabbits, a couple of angels and a human face in the middle. I thought the ones you are referring to were dogs panting with their tongues out when I first looked. They seem to have four legs so that rules out dolphins. Just a guess.

[mike thomas]

Thanks for the input YesNo,

I agree with you: they do look more like dogs. I think their mouths have been drawn to perhaps represent loud noise, such as a watch dog's bark.

[Danik 2016]

I don´t want to complicate things but what looks like feet might also be small waves. So they might be dolphins, but do dolphins have tongues?

[mike thomas]

Thanks for that Danik 2016

I believe they're formed from part of some kind of plant, therefore all of their body are stems and leaves etc. But I never considered waves.

cheers