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Identification and Creation

Object Number
47.1965
Title
Head of a Cat
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
relief, sculpture
Date
mid 7th-late 1st century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient)
Period
Late Period to Ptolemaic
Culture
Egyptian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304411

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded arsenical bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
9.5 x 6.6 x 9.6 x 0.3 cm (3 3/4 x 2 5/8 x 3 3/4 x 1/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Arsenical Bronze:
Cu, 74.42; Sn, 2.32; Pb, 20.09; Zn, 0.313; Fe, 0.34; Ni, 0.03; Ag, 0.1; Sb, 0.44; As, 1.92; Bi, 0.031; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The cat head is a hollow cast and is 1.8 to 2.6 mm thick. The somewhat generalized contours of the interior show no indications of the ears or other facial details, and there is no evidence of wax manipulation marks. It is likely that the wax model was formed directly over a pre-formed core. There is a partially intact copper alloy chaplet (1 mm x 2 mm) at the top of the head. A white material, which looks old and could be core, is preserved in the front of the face. Most of the surface modeling appears to have been done in the wax. The eye cavities are undercut to receive inlay, now completely lost. Rough cold-worked marks at the back of the eyes appear to be preparation to receive the inlays. The surface is well preserved, but the top 1.5 cm of both ears is restored. There is evidence of deep-seated corrosion and long-term burial. The patina is dark green.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Loan from the Collection of Edouard Sandoz
Object Number
47.1965
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
This hollow-cast cat head is almost life-size. It may have surmounted a large wooden container in the shape of a cat, which would have held an animal’s mummified remains. Examples with preserved wooden bodies have been excavated at the cat cemetery at Bubastis (1). Both ears preserve holes for earrings, and the nose seems flattened or worked secondarily either in ancient or modern times. It lacks the scarab generally inlaid or engraved on the forehead. Holes in each nostril penetrate the metal, while the original core inside can be seen in the front part of the face. There is no indication of whiskers or other surface decoration.

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. G. Roeder, Ägyptische Bronzefiguren, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Mitteilungen aus der Ägyptischen Sammlung 6 (Berlin, 1956) 344.

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).


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