Ancient Egyptian Small Votive Bronze of a Sacred Cat (664 BC to 332 BC Egypt)

Zoom Exit

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

Regarded today as the most Egyptian of animals the cat's popularity in Ancient Egypt arose primarily from its capacity for ridding houses of rodents. It was in this protective role that Bastet was honoured, a goddess represented as a cat or woman with a cat's head who protected the home.

An Ancient Egyptian Small Votive Bronze of a Sacred Cat
Sitting on the top of a bronze staff finial, smooth black and green patina
Late Dynastic period (664-332 BC)

Size: 3.5cm high, 2.2cm deep, 1.5cm wide – 1½ ins high, 1 ins deep, ½ ins wide
6cm high – 2¼ ins high (overall)