Egyptian bronze could prove it's the cat's whiskers for $30,000

Bonhams' sale of antiquities on April 13 includes a beautiful but inscrutable Egyptian cat cast in bronze, with gold earrings, that dates from circa 664-32BC. It is estimated to sell for £15,000 to £20,000 as Egyptian art is a popular period with collectors and investors 

The hollow cast bronze cat is shown alert, sitting upright with the tail curled to the right side, the body with stippled surface, wearing a Bes-headed pectoral suspended on a cord and original gold earrings. It has beautiful well-defined features with recessed eyes and incised whiskers.

The feline comes from a private Swiss collection. Bought in New York in 1958 it comes with accompanying collection notes. 

Such cats are images of the cat goddess Bastet and were often placed on the top of bronze boxes containing mummified cats. 

Madeleine Perridge, head of Antiquities at Bonhams, comments: "This is a wonderfully striking cat with beautifully defined features, particularly the finely incised detail of the fur and the delightful original gold earrings."

She added that it is in excellent condition considering it is more than 2,000 years old.

Praised for controlling vermin which could be a threat to the harvest, Egyptian nobles of the new kingdom period would also take cats on bird-hunting expeditions. By the Graeco-Roman period, cats as the personification of the goddess Bastet, were deemed to be sacred animals and it was forbidden to remove them from Egypt.  


The crème de la crème: this moggy is expected to make £15,000 to £20,000

The cat goddess Bastet eventually replaced the cult of Mafdet, a lion-headed goddess. Bastet's image softened over time and she became the deity representing protection, fertility and motherhood.

 

As a revered animal important to Egyptian society and religion, cats like humans, were also mummified. Mummified cats were given as an offering to Bastet. In 1888, an Egyptian farmer uncovered a large tomb with mummified cats and kittens. This discovery outside the town of Beni Hasan had eighty thousand cat mummies, dating to 1000-2000BC.

 

Join our readers in over 200 countries around the world - sign up for your free weekly Collectibles Newsletter today

Featured products

Elvis Presley Authentic Strand of Hair
Elvis Presley Authentic Strand of Hair
Sale price£399
In stock
Fidel Castro signed certificateFidel Castro Signed Certificate
Fidel Castro signed certificate
Sale price£2,995
In stock
King Henry VIII Autographed DocumentKing Henry VIII Autographed Document
King Henry VIII Autographed Document
Sale price£55,000
In stock