Ears with losses and chipped.

Provenance:
- Collection Elsa Bloch-Diener, Berne acquired between 1968-1983 (according to Stuker Auctions).
- Private property of Maria Müller, Thun, 7 December 1983 (according to a copy of the invoice description by Elsa Bloch-Diener).
- Stuker Auctions, Berne, Spring 2018, Lot No. 547.

Anubis served as the patron of necropoleis, and was responsible for the ritual preparation of the corpse, especially embalming, opening of the mouth, and the burial ceremony. He is often depicted in an upright human form with a dog's head or as a reclining black dog. The canids (dogs, jackals, wolves) were considered as guides of souls, which accompany the deceased to the Land of the Dead. Anubis' function as the God of the Dead is related to the character of the animal. The Egyptians observed that dogs, foxes and jackals often made their way to burial sites and pawed at the graves which were located on the edge of the desert. Their goings-on were, of course, harmful to the dead and disturbed the rest of the deceased - perhaps this is precisely why people chose this animal to accompany the dead, hoping for appeasement and more caring activities. Anubis' main place of worship was in the region of the city of Cynopolis, the necropoleis of Abydos and Saqqara. In very ancient pyramid texts, his function in the Court of the Dead is described as follows: Anubis supervised the embalming; in the case of Osiris, he performed the ritual of opening the mouth, which served to animate the dead as well as to enable them to use all their bodily functions with a god-like efficacy. Anubis counted the hearts, and together with Thoth he appeared as a "priest of reading", who cleaned and prepared the corpse of the dead.