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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2001.210
Title
Seated Cat
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
8th-4th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Late Period
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/168932

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
overall with tang: 6.8 x 2.4 x 4.3 cm (2 11/16 x 15/16 x 1 11/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 70.46; Sn, 5.35; Pb, 24.13; Zn, 0.008; Fe, 0.02; Ni, 0.01; Ag, 0.03; Sb, less than 0.05; As, less than 0.10; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.01; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is bright green with areas of light green and red. The corrosion products have been scraped and abraded to reveal some of the original surface detail. Fine scrape and abrasion marks from this process cover the surface. Although the surface features are visible, the cleaning process has made their exact character less certain.

Held in the hand, the weight of the cat indicates it is a hollow rather than a solid cast. The wax model was probably formed directly, around a pre-formed core, rather than cast. The facial features and lines at the neck were probably punched and incised by cold work.


Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Sally and Robert Huxley
Accession Year
2001
Object Number
2001.210
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The seated cat faces frontally, with its long tail resting on its right side on a flat, thin base. The cat has an incised collar of two bands. Lines also indicate the whiskers and fill the area in the triangular, pointed ears. The eyes and nose are modeled. The forelimbs are tubes with no indication of joints, ending in simple paws. The hind limbs are not differentiated from the back of the cat, and only the paws are indicated. Under the tail is a circular-sectioned tang, indicating that the cat was an attachment or that it originally had a more complicated base. There is also a vertical loop on the back of the neck, possibly for suspension (1).

The seated cat was the most popular animal depicted in bronze during the first millennium BCE and accompanied the increasingly widespread recognition of sacred animal cults from the Late Period through the Ptolemaic (664-30 BCE) (2). The house cat, as the domesticated counterpart to the wild feline, especially the lion, appears in Egyptian art at least as early as the Middle Kingdom (c. 2134-1665 BCE). The male, or tomcat, was associated with the sun god, and in the New Kingdom (c. 1571-1076 BCE) played an important role in the Book of the Dead as the slayer of the Apophis serpent, enemy of the sun god. In all likelihood, however, the bronze statuettes represent the female cat and are connected with a series of goddesses, in particular Bastet.

Bastet was an ancient goddess, known from at least the beginning of the Old Kingdom (c. 2687-2191 BCE). She and several other goddesses associated with the solar element were represented as feline-headed. Over time, she acquired the more benevolent characteristics of the domesticated cat, known for its fertility and nocturnal sex life, in opposition to the more threatening leonine aspects assumed by the goddess Sekhmet. In this role, Bastet and, by extension, cats were seen to be peaceful and protective. While there were other goddesses who manifested themselves as cats, for example Pakhet (“She Who Scratches”) in Middle Egypt, Bastet’s supremacy rose during the first millennium, probably as a direct result of her connection to the rulers of Dynasty 22 (c. 931-725 BCE) who came from Bubastis, the ancient cult center of Bastet.

Bubastis (modern Tell Basta near Zagazig in the eastern Delta), in addition to other Egyptian sites, became the site of a large cat cemetery at the temple of Bastet, in which mummified cats were deposited as votives. Skeletal evidence suggests that the mummified cats had been intentionally killed while still young, rather than having been cherished pets that died of natural causes (3). Small cat figurines were often wrapped in the linen bandages of the mummified remains, which were in turn placed in bronze or wooden containers in the shape of seated cats. Many of the larger, hollow-cast bronze cats can be interpreted in this way and retain an opening into the body cavity. The majority of the bronzes, however, were dedicated in shrines.

The dedication of cat mummies and votive statues has been connected to a highly institutionalized cult of the king, which may explain the large number and standardized iconography of the bronzes (4). Although there is a wide variety of types preserved, most of the bronzes achieve an anatomical correctness and express the essence of cats—haughty dignity and aloofness. They assume the seated position with head held erect and tail curled along the right side as in the hieroglyphic sign. One or both of the ears tend to be pierced, and gold hoop earrings remain on some examples. The frequent presence of a scarab beetle placed on the forehead and a pectoral on the chest suggests the protective function and solar connection of such figures.

NOTES:

1. See M. Hill and D. Schorsch, eds., Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2007) 87-88.

2. J. Málek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt (Philadelphia, 1993) 98-105.

3. D. Schorsch and J. H. Frantz, “A Tale of Two Kitties,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 55.3 (1997): 16-29, esp. 17-18.

4. For discussion of sacred animals and the royal cult, see D. Kessler, Die Heiligen Tiere und der König, Ägypten und Altes Testament 16 (Wiesbaden, 1989).


Lisa M. Anderson and Marian Feldman

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu