Egyptian, Late Period, ca. 7th - 5th century B.C.

Faience and Glass

L: 40.2 cm

Height of Amulet: 3.6 cm

Serial: 28970

The seated statuette pendant is surrounded with 30 decorative rectangular beads interspersed with gold colored glass beads in excellent condition with no breaks or repairs.

Especially in the first millennium, the lioness and cat play an important role in art and in Egyptian religion. In the absence of registration, attributes or specific anatomical details (in addition to the mane, which does not always appear, the rounded shape of the ears indicates that this is a lioness, while cats have pointy ears), the various feline head goddesses who inhabited the imagination of the ancient Egyptians cannot be known with certainty.

The lioness goddess par excellence of Egyptian mythology is the formidable and dangerous Sekhmet (Mistress of all evil and capable of generating disease), which is often equated Bastet (its soft version domesticated cat head, the protector of the family home and pregnant women and children).

Provenance

Ex- American private collection, acquired in Egypt in the beginning of the 20th century.

Exhibited

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1922 – 1945 ; #M328

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1945 - 1967;

Museum of Man, San Diego, California, 1968