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Cat Coffin

305–30 BCE
(305–30 BCE)
bronze, hollow cast
Overall: 51 x 14.1 x 24 cm (20 1/16 x 5 9/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1917.998
Location: 107 Egyptian
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A necklace appears to have been incised or scratched into the finished bronze; faint traces are visible on the chest.

Description

Although the cat is considered the most Egyptian of animals, as an object of worship the cat does not appear until late in Egyptian history. This unusually large statue of a cat was made to hold the mummified remains of a sacred cat. The coffin is, of course, hollow, with an open bottom. As usual, the animal’s tail is curled around its right side.
Cat Coffin

Cat Coffin

305–30 BCE

Egypt, Greco-Roman period (332 BCE–395 CE), Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BCE)

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