<em>Leonine Goddess</em>, 770–412 B.C.E. Wood, gold leaf, plaster, linen, bronze, animal remains, 16 3/4 x 5 1/8 x 6 1/2 in. (42.5 x 13 x 16.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1379E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1379E_threequarter_PS6.jpg)

Leonine Goddess, 770–412 B.C.E. Wood, gold leaf, plaster, linen, bronze, animal remains, 16 3/4 x 5 1/8 x 6 1/2 in. (42.5 x 13 x 16.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1379E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1379E_threequarter_PS6.jpg)

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Could you tell me why this sculpture has not been on display for about 80 years? Anything special about this one?

The piece wasn't displayed for so long because it was in very poor condition and needed conservation work that the curators had to save up for. It is also interesting because it originally held a cat mummy but is in a different shape. And, the fact that it is wood (which was rare in Ancient Egypt) makes it valuable as well. It is amazing that wood pieces like this and some of the mummy boards you see throughout the galleries survived since they are so much more perishable than stone.

Totally agreed, thanks. Also, please send the highest respect to the people who fixed this piece. They have done an outstanding job!

I will! We have a whole in-house conservation department that is amazing with specialists in everything from just paper or just paintings to stone and enamels, which makes us very lucky as a museum.

What was the significance of this crouching pose?

You may have read about it on the label but it was unusual to see a 3D mummified figure sitting this way and here, it may connect the goddess with the Netherworld.

Kneeling was regularly seen, as a pose of worship and giving offering and was placed in temples. But this figure is crouching more than kneeling, and seems to be holding something in its hands. The crouching stance is well known in 2-dimensional representations. Also the cat-like figure is meant to look mummified.

Egyptian art was about communication, and as such was standardized so it could be as clear as possible. We very rarely see a break in standard poses, or actions or ways of depicting a figure. So when we do it's unusual. The label offers some thoughts as to what this pose may mean however.

Thank you so much for your help!

Leonine Goddess

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

MEDIUM Wood, gold leaf, plaster, linen, bronze, animal remains

Place Made: Egypt

DATES 770–412 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 22 to Dynasty 27

PERIOD Third Intermediate Period to Late Period

DIMENSIONS 16 3/4 x 5 1/8 x 6 1/2 in. (42.5 x 13 x 16.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1379E

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Statuette of Sekhmet (or Bast?) containing the mummy of a cat (?) wood. The goddess is seated on a lotus flower or papyrus. Her knees are drawn up and both feet rest on the ground. Her arms are held close to her body, are bent at the elbow, and the hands are placed beside the knees. The right clenches the left with fingers extended and palm down. She has the head of a lioness, wears a wig-cover, a uraeus on her forehead and had some sort of head dress. A garment envelops her body but it is impossible to distinguish its cut. The greater part, if not all, of the figure, was covered with gold leaf. Certainly the hands, her arms, breast, and back of wig-cover, were so covered and we must suppose that the figure simulated one of solid gold if any color was introduced it was about the lioness head, eyes or headdress. The head is now much discolored. The plant on which the goddess sits is now a dark brown to black, without details to determine whether a papyrus or lotus flower was intended. The small amount of stem which was represented was undoubtedly inserted in some kind of a wooden pedestal so that the figure might be placed in an upright position.

EXHIBITIONS

Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Leonine Goddess, 770–412 B.C.E. Wood, gold leaf, plaster, linen, bronze, animal remains, 16 3/4 x 5 1/8 x 6 1/2 in. (42.5 x 13 x 16.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1379E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1379E_threequarter_PS6.jpg)

IMAGE threequarter, 37.1379E_threequarter_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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