I don't know what to call this doll--she INSISTS that she's related to Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess, but I have my doubts. First of all her face (from a polyclay cab by Griselda Tello, but with ears I added) doesn't look Egyptian. Second, if you look closely at her headdress (a piece of vintage jewelry) you'll see that there's a little maybe Aztec or Mayan in there, probably running the show. But, as a dollmaker, you eventually learn that it doesn't pay to argue: you have to give them what they want or they'll simply refuse to be finished & sit on a shelf staring (glaring?) at you until you give in. So OK, she's built on a wooden textile bobbin, her underdress is cut from a vintage hand-embroidered linen napkin in what might be sort of a lotus pattern, and her outer robe is blue velvet. Around her waist she wears a gold chain holding a very old key. Her neckpiece is a silky purple, overlaid with a vintage gold-braid-and-sequin strip that she INSISTED on having, KNEW was somewhere in the house, & REFUSED to do without. It took me 3 days to find it, & then she had to have a bee (some Bast connection) & said she was finished. Her clothes are not removable. She's just about a foot high, & not terribly pleasant to live with--too demanding. However, if you feel a need to add someone regal to your environment, she's just it.

This piece is not a toy, but a piece of collectible art, and not suitable for children.

This doll is one of a kind, springing from the hands & brain of Leslie Sirag, whose art crafts have been shown in New York, California, Washington, and, of course, on the net.

This piece should be fine under normal conditions. I would, however, keep it away from animals and small children, and out of bathtubs and swimming pools.