Egyptian
An Egyptian bronze cat head, Late Period, circa 664 - 332 BC
Bronze
Height: 5 cm
Hollow cast, the naturalistically-modelled face with large eyes, mouth and nostrils incised, the alert ears both pierced.
Hollow cast, the naturalistically-modelled face with large eyes, mouth and nostrils incised, the alert ears both pierced.
Provenance
Embiricos Collection, Switzerland, acquired 1940-1970With Rupert Wace Ancient Art, London, 2001
Private collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above
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.