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Coffin for a cat

Wooden coffin in the shape of a seated cat; the base into which it once was inserted is missing. The cat is made of a large piece of wood that constitutes most of the animal, with a smaller piece added to make up the end of the back and bottom. The two pieces are consolidated with textile and stucco and might have been glued together. The whole cat was covered with plaster and in a black substance, with a speck of gilding on the right side at the base of where its tail would have been. Possibly it was once all gilded and the black substance was some type of adhesive. The body of the cat has a hole meant for a small mummy; the remains of its textiles, covered in a dark resinous material, still survive. The forepaws rest on a large tenon that would have fit into the original base.

Cat. 2360
Wood+plant organic+stucco
7.9 cm x 24 cm x 14.5 cm
750–390 BCE
Late Period
Unknown
Old Fund, 1824–1888
Museum / Floor 1 / Room 11 RET / Armadio 48 SA / Ripiano 01
Museo Egizio