Seated cat
Life Story
The cat is seated on a base, wears a necklace, and has a suspension loop behind the neck. The animal’s tail curls round its right side. The figure is well modelled and there are coppery incrustations on the surface. The cat was revered as a manifestation of the goddess Bast or Bastet. Many bronze statuettes of cats have been found as votive objects in Egyptian temples, and in some cases no doubt they were worn as protective amulets. For all aspects of the cat in Egypt, see Malek (1993).
Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection 3 volume catalogue, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997).
Provenance
Purchased by the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia from K. J. Hewett in 1990 on the advice of Robert Sainsbury out of funds provided by the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Art Trust.
