An ancient Egyptian bronze head of a cat, realistically modeled in an alert pose with prominent cheek bones, fixed forward gaze and upright pierced ears with incised details.
The female cat was seen as the earthly manifestation of Bastet, goddess of Joy. Her cult center was at Bubastis in the Nile Delta. At this site the carefully mummified bodies of highly revered cats have been found with finely cast bronze masks.
$17,500