An Egyptian bronze figure of Bastet
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C.
The cat-headed goddess depicted standing on an integral plinth, wearing a tightly-fitted patterned dress with incised stripes of chevron, dot and cross-hatched motifs, holding a sistrum in her outstretched right hand, the left holding the aegis of lion-headed Sekhmet, 15cm high注脚Provenance:
Gottfried and Helga Hertel collection, Cologne, acquired prior to 1967.

Bastet, like her female cat counterparts, was associated with fecundity and also music and merrymaking, hence the carrying of the sistrum. This statuette is of the 'housewife Bastet' type, which depicted the goddess carrying the sistrum, aegis, and a basket hanging from the crook of the left arm, now missing from the present lot.