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Details
LOT 0475
Egyptian Blue Glazed Bastet Amulet
NEW KINGDOM, 18TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1504-1452 B.C.
1 1/2 in. (2.01 grams, 17.59 mm).
Modelled resting on a rectangular base, with fur-texture detailing and hieroglyph to the underside. [No Reserve]
Provenance
From an old Suffolk, UK, collection.
Acquired in the UK before 1980.
From the personal collection of Derek Rogers, Suffolk, UK.
Literature
Cf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, item 29(c), for type.
Footnotes
The cat was sacred to Bastet, a protective mother goddess and the daughter of the sun god Re. Amulets provided the wearer with the goddess's protection.
Her name means ‘she of the bast [ointment jar],’ which may have contained a substance favoured by or exclusive to royalty. Originally, Bastet was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, but by the New Kingdom, she was typically depicted with a cat's head. She is sometimes shown with kittens, emphasising her maternal role as a fierce protector of offspring.
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