This charming image of a dog playing a saxophone was on the front cover of a 1937 menu aboard the SS Roma, an ocean liner built for the Italian shipping company Navigazione Generale Italiana di Genoa.

The luxury liner, which was decorated in highly ornate and elaborate Baroque style, could carry approximately 1675 passengers in four classes (375 first, 300 second, 300 intermediate and 700 third class).

There was an on-board orchestra and concerts were held three times a day as part of the entertainment program.

This charming illustration was for the evening program during dinner service when works by Tchaikovsky and Wagner were played, followed by jazz and dancing from 10 till 12pm.

After Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928, the beloved cartoon mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes and white gloves, there was a fashion for anthropomorphic animal characters.

This musical dog is beautifully detailed by the artist whose signature is sadly indecipherable.

Roma was a luxury passenger liner until WWII broke out when it was acquired by the Italian navy. She was taken over by German occupation forces in 1943 but was partly scuttled by the Italians and could not be used. She was scrapped in 1951.