![]() Style and Past Restorations Led to a Mistaken Identity Further investigation of the metal revealed the alloy was highly leaded (around 18 percent), consistent with published data on several bronze cat sculptures in European collections including from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Preußischer Kulturbesitz, and the Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptischer Kunst, in Munich. Metal analysis by portable x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) pointed to bronze, a copper-tin-lead alloy. The cat was x-rayed and found to be an accomplished casting, with few defects. Intriguingly, the recessed and slightly hidden surfaces around the base of the statue hinted at something different, something ancient. Is this what led people to believe it was an imitation or forgery? Dating and Discovery of an Ancient Cat It was also too shiny, giving it a modern appearance, and oddly proportioned. It was curiously consistent and did not have the usual mottled corrosion patterns we are used to seeing on ancient bronzes. ![]() Last year, we began to look at the surface in more detail. Paul Getty Jan 7, 1955)ĭecades later it was classified as an imitation of an Egyptian statue, not as an antiquity. We all admired the bronze Egyptian cat and I bought it for 600 pounds. Paul Getty saw the cat at Spink & Son gallery in London while out with friends, and it became one of the first ancient objects acquired by his newly formed museum: The Getty’s collection includes a Greek mirror with a Ready electrotyped attachment.Ħ0 years later, J. The Readys amassed a substantial collection of electrotyped copies of coins and medals for sale. One of their trades (and sources of income) was in the relatively new technology of electrotyping, a copy process in which a thin metallic layer is deposited on a mold to create a metallic reproduction. He was the son of Robert Cooper Walpole Ready and brother to Augustus Papworth and Charles Joseph, all involved with antiquities and restoration, as well as part-time employees at the British Museum. He came from a family that worked with antiquities. To find the answer, we needed to understand a bit more about William Talbot Ready. In 1892, the Getty’s bronze cat was in Ready’s hands, but why? Was it being restored or reproduced? Ready, Nov 1892, 55 Rathbone Pl(ace), London W.” A 19th-century business directory listed Ready as “a dealer in antiquities, coins, metals and gems.” In this case, we found an inscription on the underside of the wooden base that reads: “Mounted By W.T. But recent discoveries and scientific tests suggest that it is, in fact, ancient.ĭiscoveries like this often start as clues on the objects themselves. History Inscribed on the Base of a Bronze Catįor many years, a bronze cat statuette at the Getty Villa was believed to be one of these imitations, and was left alone in storage. The demand for these charming feline bronzes reportedly led to a market for forgeries as well. His excavations, which followed years of uncontrolled digging, yielded a wide range of cat representations, from life-sized to small votive bronzes. By the turn of the century, thousands of cat statuettes had flooded museums and the European art market. From 1887 to 1889, Swiss archaeologist and Egyptologist Édouard Naville led excavations at Bubastis, also known as Tell Basta. ![]() Over 2,000 years later, Egypt was becoming a center of the nascent field of archaeology. Although cat mummies are found over an extended period, many date to the Ptolemaic period from 332 to 31 BC. Bubastis seems to have been overrun with cats, who were fed and cared for, and buried in the temple precincts when they died. Bronze and wood cat statuettes were placed as votive offerings at temples, and some were hollow and held cat mummies, preserving the remains for eternity.Ĭat mummies and bones have been found at several sites, but the city of Bubastis, located in the Nile delta, north of Cairo, is known as the cult center for cat worship. Ancient Egyptians revered cats and worshiped the goddess Bastet, who could appear in human form with a feline head, or as a cat.
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