The present figure of Acis is based on an Antique marble original, now at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, known as The Holkham Faun. This was acquired from Rome by the Coke family in about 1750. It has been suggested that John Cheere (1709-1787) acquired reproduction rights to the distinctive Coke Collection from about 1760, as other lead figures copied from Holkham statues began to appear after this time, for instance at Stourhead, Wiltshire.

The indistinct signature of the present lead figure may be that of William Collins (1721-1793), a pupil of Sir Henry Cheere's, who later had his own yard close to John Cheere, and who worked with him on the Burton Constable commission.