Ancient Egyptian Hollow Bronze Sculpture of a Seated Cat (664 BC to 332 BC Egypt)

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Bronze

Provenance: Ex Collection Carlos Blacker, friend of Oscar Wilde
Inherited by his granddaughter, Dr Thetis Blacker (1927-2006)
Artist and collector
The estate sold at auction 2008

Cats in Ancient Egypt were important both as domestic pets and as symbols of deities such as Bastet and Ra. There were two indigenous feline species in Ancient Egypt: the jungle cat (Felis Chaus) and the African wild cat (Felis Silvestris Libyca), the first being found only in Egypt and South Eastern Asia. The earliest Egyptian remains of a cat were found in a tomb at the predynastic site of Mostagedda suggesting that the Egyptians were already keeping cats as pets in the late fourth Millennium BC.

A Fine Ancient Egyptian Hollow Bronze Sculpture of a Seated Cat
One ear restored, fine dark brown and red patina
Late Dynastic period (664-332 BC)

Size: 10.5cm high, 4cm wide, 7cm deep – 4 ins high, 1½ ins wide, 2¾ ins deep