Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
This statuette of a seated cat is a hollow cast from bronze. The tail of the cat curls around the proper right side of the body. The cat has a sweet face with large eyes. Both ears are pierced for earrings, most likely of gold, which are now missing. The ornaments worn by the cat, including a three row beaded collar, an wadjet eye amulet suspended on a cord and a scarab beetle on the top of its' head are all incised into the surface. Conservation work to counter-act inroads of spontaneous corrosion (also known commonly as "bronze disease"), uncovered the remains of a fetal cat within the sandy matrix inside the hollow of the body of the cat. (Fink and Kopp, fig. 2) Both the fill and the bones were determined to be ancient. The matrix was composed of sand and an alkali, probably natron, which may have been used to embalm the cat. These elements cemented to create a hard, faience-like material. Electrolytic preservation stabilized the chloridic surface, removing the green patina that had built up (see Fink and Kopp for technical details). The cavity opening is located beneath the back quarters of the cat. The cat does not have an original base, but rectangular tangs may be noted beneath the front feet and the base of the tail. After conservation the body was treated with wax and the opening was refilled with a sand-wax mixture in order to keep the weakened bronze body from collapsing upon itself. An ancient dent at the lower back was filled and tinted to match the body (Fink and Kopp, p. 114).
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
30784
label
Cat Reliquary
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
30784
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Cat Reliquary
description
This statuette of a seated cat is a hollow cast from bronze. The tail of the cat curls around the proper right side of the body. The cat has a sweet face with large eyes. Both ears are pierced for earrings, most likely of gold, which are now missing. The ornaments worn by the cat, including a three row beaded collar, an wadjet eye amulet suspended on a cord and a scarab beetle on the top of its' head are all incised into the surface. Conservation work to counter-act inroads of spontaneous corrosion (also known commonly as "bronze disease"), uncovered the remains of a fetal cat within the sandy matrix inside the hollow of the body of the cat. (Fink and Kopp, fig. 2) Both the fill and the bones were determined to be ancient. The matrix was composed of sand and an alkali, probably natron, which may have been used to embalm the cat. These elements cemented to create a hard, faience-like material. Electrolytic preservation stabilized the chloridic surface, removing the green patina that had built up (see Fink and Kopp for technical details). The cavity opening is located beneath the back quarters of the cat. The cat does not have an original base, but rectangular tangs may be noted beneath the front feet and the base of the tail. After conservation the body was treated with wax and the opening was refilled with a sand-wax mixture in order to keep the weakened bronze body from collapsing upon itself. An ancient dent at the lower back was filled and tinted to match the body (Fink and Kopp, p. 114).
provenance
Lucy Wortham James; Dr. and Mrs. Lewellys F. Barker, 1942
date
ca. 500 BCE (Late Period)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
statuettes (statues)
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
14.5
height
6
depth
9.6
dimensionsRaw
H: 5 11/16 x W: 2 3/8 x D: 3 3/4 in. (14.5 x 6 x 9.6 cm); With mount H: 7 3/4 x W: 3 1/8 x D: 5 11/16 in. (19.7 x 8 x 14.4 cm)
Source extras
cul
Egyptian
med
bronze
creator_ids
6182
collection_ids
none
exhibition_ids
2507
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ed3d6fd720edccf7