Egyptian
An Egyptian bronze cat, Late Period, circa 664 - 332 BC
Bronze
Height: 15.2 cm (excluding tang)
The elegantly proportioned feline is seated gracefully on its haunches. The long tail curls around the right side of its body. The details of the face and whiskers are incised,...
The elegantly proportioned feline is seated gracefully on its haunches. The long tail curls around the right side of its body. The details of the face and whiskers are incised, one ear is pierced.
Provenance
Reputedly with Charles Ratton, Paris, 1950
Jacques-Rene Fiechter (1894 - 1981) Collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above, thence by descent. Jacques René Fiechter was a professor at the Farouk University in Alexandria until the 1950s when he returned to Switzerland
With Cahn, Basel, Auction 4, 19 September 2009, lot 70
Private collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above
Literature
Cats were the revered sacred animal of the goddess Bastet, whose worship was centred at Bubastis in the eastern Delta. Bastet could appear in human form with a feline head, or as a cat. Bronze and wood cat statuettes were placed as votive offerings at temples, and some were hollow and held cat mummies, preserving the remains for eternity. For a similar Late Period example see, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no. 66.99.145.For discussion of cats and Bastet in ancient Egypt see D. Arnold, 'Katze' in Falken, Katzen, Krokodile: Tiere im Alten Ägypten: Aus den Sammlungen des Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, und des Ägyptischen Museums Kairo, Zurich, 2010; J. Malek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt, London, 1993.