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_900x900.jpg "Large Egyptian Bronze Head of a Cat")
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_900x900.jpg "Large Egyptian Bronze Head of a Cat")
_200x200.jpg "Large Egyptian Bronze Head of a Cat")
_900x900.jpg "Large Egyptian Bronze Head of a Cat")
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LOT 0013
Large Egyptian Bronze Head of a Cat
LATE PERIOD-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 664-30 B.C.
8 1/2 in. (629 grams total, 21.5 cm high including stand).
Modelled sleek and muscular in the round, the ears and eyes alert creating a dignified expression; piercings through the ears; hollow-formed; mounted on a custom-made display base.
ProvenanceAcquired from a French dealer, 1965.
Swiss private collection.
UK private collection, 1993.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11838-206398.
Cf. The British Museum, museum numbers EA25565 and EA64391 for comparable examples; cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession numbers 86.1.80 and 56.16.1, for similar.
FootnotesPossibly intended as a container for the mummified remains of a cat, or from a statuette of the goddess Bastet. The feline's pierced ears likely once held earrings or other ornaments. In ancient Egypt, cats were the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet; such objects were often given as donations at her temples.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Hardstone Scarab
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
With detailed mouth and hatched carapace. 13.8 grams, 34 mm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016. -
Egyptian Brown Faience Tyet Amulet
Late Period, 664-323 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Also known as tit, or the knot of Isis; with pillar to reverse, pierced for suspension. 3.52 grams, 40 mm
From an early 20th century collection, Caernarfon, North Wales, UK. -
Egyptian Bronze Per-Medjed Oxyrhynchus Fish
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C.Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,111
The fish displayed atop a shrine on a hollow rectangular base; attached by ventral and pectoral fins, remains of forked tail; dorsal ridge; tapering nose; recessed circular eyes; horned sun disc headdress with coiled cobra to base; figure of a worshipping priest kneeling beneath. 271 grams, 10.6 cm
Acquired in Europe before 1990. Private collection, Europe. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11833-206796.
Per-Medjed is the ancient Egyptian name of the main cult centre of this type of fish (Mormyrus kannume). The Greeks called the cult centre Oxyrhynchus Polis (meaning 'Town of the sharp-snouted fish'). In ancient Egyptian religion, these sacred fish were believed to have consumed the penis of the god Osiris after his brother Set had dismembered and scattered his body. Statuettes such as this are associated with Isis and Hathor.
