Cat
Culture
Ancient Egyptian
DateLate Period, about 664–332 BCE
Mediumbronze
Dimensionsobject: 25 × 7.5 × 13.2 cm (9 13/16 × 2 15/16 × 5 3/16 in.)
mount: 8.6 × 12.7 × 18.3 cm (3 3/8 × 5 × 7 3/16 in.)
mount: 8.6 × 12.7 × 18.3 cm (3 3/8 × 5 × 7 3/16 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1947.7
Label Text
Egyptian diety Bastet was believed to reveal herself in the form of a cat. All cats, therefore, were revered as sacred, and thousands of cat mummies survive near the goddess’s seat at Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Mummies of sacred animals were often offered at sacred sites and covered with elaborate linen wrappings or placed in wooden or bronze images (like this one) of these animals.
ProvenanceReportedly acquired by Spink from the dealer Nahman, Cairo (according to a notation by P.B. Cott); Museum purchase from Spink & Son, Inc, March 10, 1947 through exchange of 1925.570.On View
On view
