Egyptian Bronze

Exhibited by Charles Ede

Material Bronze

Dimensions 11.7 cm (height including tang 13.6 cm)

Status Not Vetted

About the Work

Hollow cast sculpture of a seated cat, its tail curling round to the right, its upright forelegs holding its chest high, creating an elegant profile. The cat holds its head high. gazing straight ahead, its ears pricked.

Intact, small crack at base of tail, the surface with a mottled red and green patina. The perforated earring holes filled in.

The statuette is a manifestation of the goddess Bastet. Typically portrayed as either a cat-headed woman or as a feline, Bastet held her principal cult centre at Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Revered as a mother goddess, Bastet served as a benevolent counterpart to the more aggressive lion deity, Sekhmet. Likely originating from a temple, this bronze figure would have been dedicated by the donor seeking to establish communication with the gods.

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Provenance

Charles Ede Ltd, London, UK; acquired December 1996
Margaret Janet Bourne, Surrey, UK; acquired 1996

Literature

Compare Mogens Jørgensen, Catalogue Egypt V: Egyptian Bronzes, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen, 2009), p.211, fig.72.3
Published:
Sotheby's, London, UK, Antiquities, Primitive Art, Islamic, Indian, Tibetan, Nepalese and South-East Asian Art, 3rd-4th July 1978, lot 158
Sotheby's, London, UK, Antiquities, 10th December 1996, lot 54