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Lot Essay
The cat is modelled with a scarab incised on the forehead and crouched (maybe in the act of hissing) on a base in the form of the hieroglyph 's3' which means 'protection'. The cat, often representing the goddess Bastet, was widely represented in ancient Egypt, most commonly in the form of larger bronze votive figures and smaller amulets of faience and other precious materials. While figures of seated cats were widely produced, the motif of the crouching cat is much rarer and this example represents one of the finest, both for quality of the modelling and skill in the working of the faience, which appears to have been incised and polished before firing to achieve a compact and smooth finish. Purely observational pieces such as this small sculpture, not representing a deity and without any specific amuletic function, were popular in particular towards the end of the 18th Dynasty and had no other apparent purpose than to amuse the owner. For another example pertaining to this class of small sculptures, see the ivory puppy in the collection of the British Museum (inv. no. 1883,1018.99), cf. C. Andrews, Egyptian Treasures from the British Museum, London, 1998, p. 314, no. 100.
Another interesting comparison is an amulet of a seated cat made of rock crystal which shows similar features of the beautifully modelled head and effective rendition of the body, also in the collection of the British Museum, cf. C. Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, p. 33, pl. 29a.
Another interesting comparison is an amulet of a seated cat made of rock crystal which shows similar features of the beautifully modelled head and effective rendition of the body, also in the collection of the British Museum, cf. C. Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, p. 33, pl. 29a.