Fragment of a Statue of a Cat

The deeply carved eye, the pierced ear and the delicate elaboration of the nose reflect the beauty of this object and the skilful technique of its craftsman despite its imperfection. Only most of the upper part of the bronze cat statue remains with the back, hind legs and most of the front missing. The ears and sometimes the nostrils of the most elaborate cat statues in this period were decorated with gold rings, and the eye socket was gilded, painted or inlaid with precious stones. The goddess rarely wore headdresses and often had gold or gilded scarab beetles on the head. This bronze statue represents the seated cat form of the feline goddess Bastet, venerated in the Nile Delta, mainly in Bubastis. The “cat” aspect of Bastet emphasises her tame, mild, and accommodating nature, in contrast to the uncontrollably ferocious and bloodthirsty features of the lioness. The statue wears a necklace with a Hathor-head pendant and a lion head on its back as a counterpoise which invokes its wild nature. The destructive and protective forms of the feline goddess, Bastet-Sekhmet, as well as Hathor were also closely associated with the sun god, Ra. They also were called the daughters and protectors of the god Ra. The placement of the gold scarab on the top of the head emphasised this connection.