Romano-Egyptian Mosaic Glass Fragments

The head of goddess Bastet modelled in the round with alert ears and eyes, ears pierced; hollow-formed. 40.4 grams, 33.6 mm high



Acquired in the mid 1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

The feline's pierced ears likely once held earrings or other ornaments. It was probably attached to a statuette of a cat, whose body may have been crafted from wood. 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 late New Kingdom, she was typically shown with a cat's head. She is sometimes portrayed with kittens, emphasising her maternal role as a fierce protector of her offspring.

Crouched figure of a human-headed Ba-bird on a rectangular base, carved in the round. 0.62 grams, 9.8 mm



with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016.

Carved in the half-round, lentoid in plan, with a human head wearing a hatched wig, remains of a scarab beetle in the centre, pierced to reverse for suspension. 13.3 grams, 41.6 mm



with Archaeologia, Switzerland, before 1983. Ex private North American collection. London private collection, 2016.