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LOT 0585
Egyptian Yellow Faience Bastet Cat Amulet
NEW KINGDOM, CIRCA 1550-1070 B.C.
1 in. (2.51 grams, 26 mm).
Figure of Bastet as a cat with pointed ears, seated on a rectangular base with a rounded end; suspension loop on the back, ear repaired.
ProvenanceEx London gallery and Belinda Elliston, a member of the Egyptian Exploration Society, 1940s onwards.
LiteratureCf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, item 29(c).
FootnotesIn ancient Egypt, the cat was venerated as the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet, whose principal cult centre was Bubastis in the Nile Delta. Although cats were once part of folk practice, their veneration as part of formal cults spread across Egypt during the Late Period. Bastet was closely linked to lion-headed goddesses like Sekhmet, Tefnut, and Pakhet, and the cat itself became associated with solar imagery: the Book of the Dead portrays the sun god as a Great Cat vanquishing Apophis beneath the sacred Ished Tree. The cat could also embody the Eye of the Sun or, more often in Bastet’s case, the Eye of the Moon. Mummified cats were frequently dedicated as votive offerings, and some of their feline-shaped coffins were adorned with finely crafted bronze heads to enhance their divine likeness.
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Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment Group
Circa 6th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Comprising a fragment of a clavus in white and purple linen and wool, S torsion, borders embroidered with pilasters, the central scene representing eagles alternating with geometric elements; a small fragment of another clavus, ornamented with running lions and fishes, borders with geometric patterns; a third fragment of a clavus, ornamented with vegetal patterns. 20 grams total including package, 6.1-15.6 cm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.
The clavi are realised in tapestry technique, and the one with prominent figures has a rounded end. They were part of a tunic decoration and the presence of the Imperial eagle, not a common pattern, could refer to a military tunic. -
Egyptian Bronze Harpokrates Pendant
Late-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £75
Modelled seated with his arms by his sides, wearing a sidelock of youth and the remains of an elaborate hem-hem crown; partial suspension loop behind the headdress. 20.7 grams, 72 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
Harpocrates is the Greek version of the Egyptian Hor-pa-khered, which means ‘Horus the Child’. This name refers to Horus as the divine infant of Isis and Osiris. Wearing an amulet of Harpocrates was believed to provide the same protection that Isis offered to her beloved son. -
Egyptian Blue Glazed Amulet Collection
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Group of four amuletic figural pendants, each standing with dorsal pillar: three examples of Taweret with hippopotamus-head and one of Anubis with jackal-head. 20 grams total, 31-43.6 mm
with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016.
