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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1952.128
Title
Seated Cat
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Cat from Zagazig
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, 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/312124

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded copper
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
12 x 3.7 x 7 cm (4 3/4 x 1 7/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Copper:

Cu, 64.77; Sn, 1.26; Pb, 32.53; Zn, 0.027; Fe, 0.07; Ni, 0.02; Ag, 0.12; Sb, 0.21; As, 1; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.005; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, 0.002

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The surface is rough and appears to have been stripped of corrosion products. The patina remains dark brown. The light green material in the crevices could be original remaining corrosion products, but it may also have been applied or formed after the stripping process. The left hindquarter is glued in place with a large loss surrounding the fragment. The front and back tangs are broken off and modern mounting pins have been added at the breaks. Small spots of red in some crevices and breaks provide evidence of deep corrosion and long-term burial.

The cat is a hollow cast. The interior surfaces only roughly follow the exterior surfaces and it appears that the wax model was made by working directly around a pre-formed core. Some coarse black core material remains. Similar black investment material has survived at the exterior between the front legs. The square appearance at the top of the right front leg is probably where this added wax element was not fully integrated into the wax of the body.

The eye cavities are slightly undercut and appear to have once held inlay. A black residue is present in spots in the eyes and in other depressions: nostrils, mouth, ears, and earring holes. Since the material is in the earring holes, it is unlikely to be investment. Not enough of the surface is preserved to determine if the earring holes are cast or drilled in the bronze. A third hole near the top of the right ear could be a flaw, but it is the same size as the earring holes and is also filled with black.


Henry Lie (submitted 2001)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Edward W. Forbes, Class of 1895
Accession Year
1952
Object Number
1952.128
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 tall, thin cat wears the amuletic wadjet eye of Horus on its chest. The pectoral hangs from a faintly incised thin chain with a counterpoise on the back (1). Incised lines also mark the ear hair and whiskers. Holes in both ears would have held earrings and the eyes are excised for inlays. The body is hollow with a circular opening below the hindquarters and the remains of a tenon below the legs. A large gash in the metal forms a ragged crescent shape along the left haunch.

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. A copper alloy seated cat in the Walters Art Museum, inv. no. 54.403, also wears a figural pectoral, in that case a depiction of a goddess nursing Harpokrates in relief.

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