Bronze Statuette of a Cat

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Ptolemaic period, 332-30 B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 8.1 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 1448

Provenance: From an old French private collection since the 1960s. Auctioned with Drouot in 2012. Accompaniced by a French antiquities passport.

Condition: Some encrustations, otherwisec intact.

Description: Beautifully preserved and very graceful bronze statuette of a cat. The cat, possibly depicting goddess Bastet, sits and rests on its stretched out front paws. The tail winds along the right side towards the front around the body. The face with vigilant eyes, finely drawn whiskers and a straight nose. The ears are raised and inside engraved. Bastet wears a finely worked out bead-necklace in three rows with a large pectoral in form of a Horus eye (udjat eye). See for the type with an udjat eye with almost the same height the cat from the renowned Resandro collection, auctioned with Christie's on 6 December 2016, lot 154.