Egyptian Ring with Cat and Kittens
Left: image credit Metropolitan Museum, NYC / Right: image credit Wendy Smith
Egyptian Faience Cat Ring
ca. 1295-664 BC
I spied this little gem, an ancient Egyptian faience ring, featuring a cat with her seven kittens, in NYC at the gallery Les Enluminures, as part of the Rings Around the World exhibit in 2016. Forty-five rings on view, dating from the Bronze age to the year 2015. There were many amazing rings but this one particularly impressed me with its intricate openwork design, its subject matter and above all, the material it was made from - faience. How it had survived for almost 3,000 years, was beyond me!
The following year, in 2017, the Metropolitan Museum of Art bought the ring from a private collector and it is now on view for the world to see in Gallery 125 of the Egyptian wing. To learn more go to: The Met Museum.
So what it faience?
According to potter Amy Waller- “Egyptian faience (also known as Egyptian paste) is the oldest known glazed ceramic. It was first developed more than 6000 years ago in Mesopotamia, Egypt and elsewhere in the ancient world. It is known for its bright colors, especially shades of turquoise, blue and green, …” For more information about faience and where to see examples of it in museums, go to: Amy Waller Pottery
Side notes:
-The cat with kittens motif is thought to represent the Egyptian goddess Bastet - Bastet is known as the goddess of fertility, pregnancy and childbirth (seven kittens) as well as the goddess of protection against contagious disease and evil spirits. There are examples of this goddess with her kittens at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (a place I highly recommend to visit while in London) and also at the British Museum.
-And… as Sandra Hindman, owner of Les Enluminures so interestingly states: “Cats were held in high esteem in Egypt…. In fact, cats were so highly regarded that, like humans, they were mummified and buried in special ‘cat cemeteries.’ ”
So much meaning and symbolism in one small ring!
If you’d love to learn more about rings throughout history,
I highly recommend these books:
Rings Around The World (from the Les Enluminures Exhibition in NYC, 2016)
Rings - Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty by Diana Scarisbrick (a staple in every antique jewelry dealer’s library)