Wooden fridge magnet with printed vinyl sticker.
 
 
Bird-faced female figurines - Astarti
On the island of Cyprus, which was the birthplace of Aphrodite – the goddess of love and fertility – the tradition of statuettes representing the great goddess of fecundity can be traced back to the late Neolithic at least. 
 
This figurine is a beautiful example of Cypriot sculpture from the late Bronze Age: it can be connected with a group of pieces whose typology is well attested and which seems have been influenced by Syrian sculptors, and indirectly by Mesopotamian models. The mechanical and coarse workmanship of these terracottas, as well as their distribution, suggest that these images were intended to be given to deities by a large audience and are, to us, an important testimony of the popular piety of the period.
 
As it is often the case with prehistoric statuettes, the sexual and fecundity aspects are strongly emphasized: the feeding breast, surrounded by the arms and hands, the wide hips and the disproportionately large pubic triangle, enable us to confidently relate this figure to images of fertility deities which were largely widespread in the Near East and in the Mediterranean basin.
 
Size: 9.5 x 4.5 cm (approx)