I am in love with this little vintage hand-crafted Egyptian Ibis, with its gold leafed wood body and bronze head and feet, which I found at a fantastic estate sale of a world traveller and avid collector in Lynn, MA, whose collection included mid-century and contemporary ceramic works by major artists, terrific South American textiles, and an array of other interesting objects from around the world. 

The Ibis in Egyptian culture was traditionally associated with Thoth the god of wisdom and writing. Thoth was often represented in the form of a man's body with the head of the Ibis and was the patron of the educated scribes who were responsible for the administration of Egypt.

A set of three ibis's identical to this (including one this size, one slightly larger and one slightly smaller), recently sold at auction for $325.