sale of Antiquities on April 13 includes a beautiful but
inscrutable Egyptian cat cast in bronze, with gold earrings,
that dates from circa 664-32BC estimated to sell for £15,000 to
£20,000. This charming hollow cast bronze cat is shown alert,
sitting upright with the tail curled to the right side, the body
with stippled surface, wearing a Bes-headed pectoral suspended
on a cord and original gold earrings. It has beautiful well-
defined features with recessed eyes and incised whiskers. The
feline comes from a private Swiss collection. Bought in New York
in 1958. With copies of accompanying collection notes. Such cats
are images of the cat goddess Bastet and were often placed on
the top of bronze boxes containing mummified cats. Madeleine
Perridge, Head of Antiquities at Bonhams comments: This is a
wonderfully striking cat with beautifully defined features,
particularly the finely incised detail of the fur and the
delightful original gold earrings. Considering that it is more
than 2,000 years old, it is in exce