Ebony and Gold Bastet Statue

This Egyptian cat statue is cast from resin and painted black to give the appearance of ebony. Its details have been highlighted in gold paint, including a band of golden hieroglyphics that circumvent the base.

This Egyptian cat statue appears to be based on the famous ring-eared cat statue prominently housed within the British Museum; The Gayer-Anderson Cat which is dated to 664-332 B.C.

It was very common in ancient Egypt for cats to be honored after death with mummification, for cats were regarded as belonging within the sphere of the Cat-Headed War Goddess Bastet. Cats were certainly respected, if not regarded as having a part of the divine with them.

Bastet had several notable temples in Egypt, notably the temples at Bubastis, Thebes and Beni Hasan. At these sites cat mummies have been found in vast quantities – at Beni Hasan alone over 19 tons of cat mummies were found in the late 19th century!