Mirror with 4 cats (goddess Bastet). Ancient Egypt.
Mirror with 4 cats (goddess Bastet). Ancient Egypt. Late Antiquity, 664-323 BC.
Bronze.
Provenance: Private collection, Boston. France, Brest 1960.
Size: 24'5 x 12 cm; 30 cm high with stand.
A fine example of an Egyptian mirror, decorated with four cats on the handle, in reference to Bastet, the goddess of the hearth. In Ancient Egypt, toilet objects were used by both women and men, as they were linked to the myths of the solar cycle. Mirrors are objects known from the Middle Kingdom with their round shape referring to the solar disc, with the flat round surface made of burnished metal, which were used for gazing at oneself. The story of 'the distant goddess' tells how on the morning after the destruction of mankind, which the lioness goddess had undertaken on the orders of the god Ra, she approached the flooded fields 'to see her face beautifully reflected there'. The mirrors referred to the Shen (round-shaped) pools in the marshes, where the goddess Hathor distracted herself by contemplating her reflection, thus forgetting her terrible desire to destroy mankind. Mirrors appeared in Middle Imperial burials as part of the grave goods for the afterlife. They are also painted on the walls of the sarcophagus as a drawing, forming part of the "Sarcophagus Texts", in which women want to appear as Hathor.
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Mirror with 4 cats (goddess Bastet). Ancient Egypt. Late Antiquity, 664-323 BC.
Bronze.
Provenance: Private collection, Boston. France, Brest 1960.
Size: 24'5 x 12 cm; 30 cm high with stand.
A fine example of an Egyptian mirror, decorated with four cats on the handle, in reference to Bastet, the goddess of the hearth. In Ancient Egypt, toilet objects were used by both women and men, as they were linked to the myths of the solar cycle. Mirrors are objects known from the Middle Kingdom with their round shape referring to the solar disc, with the flat round surface made of burnished metal, which were used for gazing at oneself. The story of 'the distant goddess' tells how on the morning after the destruction of mankind, which the lioness goddess had undertaken on the orders of the god Ra, she approached the flooded fields 'to see her face beautifully reflected there'. The mirrors referred to the Shen (round-shaped) pools in the marshes, where the goddess Hathor distracted herself by contemplating her reflection, thus forgetting her terrible desire to destroy mankind. Mirrors appeared in Middle Imperial burials as part of the grave goods for the afterlife. They are also painted on the walls of the sarcophagus as a drawing, forming part of the "Sarcophagus Texts", in which women want to appear as Hathor.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
