We came across this sculpture of the Egyptian god Bes at a sale in America about 20 years ago. He’s quite unusual. Bes was worshipped as the protector of the household and depictions of him are normally quite small. This one, however, was made by the Romans in the 1st century B.C.E. It’s sculpted in nenfro, a kind of lava, which means it’s surprisingly light and contrasts with his heavy, cartoonlike expression. 

We had acquired the sculpture for our gallery but my husband and I came to fall in love with it. I was secretly quite happy when it didn’t sell. Since then it has become part of the family. It’s the piece that we have owned for the longest and the first object we find a home for when we have moved house. At the moment, it’s in the dining room but in our last apartment it was in the hall. The children would play around him and we would dress him up when they had parties—we once gave him an eyepatch and tied a scarf around his neck when my son had a pirate-themed birthday.

He’s really watched us grow up. It feels like we can talk to him, to tell him our secrets.