Hollow cast, depicted seated with the forelegs and paws together, the body well-modelled, the tail curled around the right side, the head with clearly-defined eyes and muzzle, the left ear...
Hollow cast, depicted seated with the forelegs and paws together, the body well-modelled, the tail curled around the right side, the head with clearly-defined eyes and muzzle, the left ear pierced.
William S. Paley (1901 - 1990) and Barbara (Babe) Cushing Paley (1915 - 1978) Collection, New York, acquired in the 1950s-70s, probably from Mathias Komor, New York Christie's, New York, 10 December 2004, lot 365 With Rupert Wace Ancient Art, London, 2004 Private collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above
William S. Paley, the founder of C.B.S., and his wife, Barbara ‘Babe’ Cushing Mortimer Paley, the quintessential mid-century American socialite, were known for their style and taste, hosting high profile soirées with the cream of Manhattan society at their 20-plus-room apartment, at 820 Fifth Avenue. The property was decorated by celebrity interior designers such as the French design firm Jansen, who’d recently transformed the Kennedy White House. This cat and the cat head also in the Paley's collection, would have sat alongside such masterpieces as Picasso’s seven-foot 'Boy Leading a Horse' which hung in the vestibule.
Literature
The cat was sacred to the goddess Bastet. A cat-headed goddess of protection, good health and fertility, Bastet was originally a fierce warrior goddess, but came to embody more domestic functions of household protection and as a goddess of pregnancy and childbirth.
Her cult centres, called Bubasteion, were numerous in Egypt however the main one was in the Nile delta region, in the modern city of Tell Basta (called Per-Bastet in Ancient Egypt and Bubastis in Greek). Bronze and wood cat statuettes were placed as votive offerings at these sanctuaries; some were hollow and held cat mummies, preserving the remains for eternity.
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.