Fake Amulet of a Cat

Fake Amulet of a Cat

An Egyptian amulet in the form of a gaurdant cat. The fabric is olive green with areas of brown accretions and some evidence of a dark blue glaze, poorly preserved. The rounded ears sit prominently on the top of the head. The eyes and nose appear to be moulded. The head appears too large for the body and the limbs are poorly indicated. The whole figure rests on a thick plinth and is pierced through the neck. The back is slightly faceted where the amulet has been pressed into the mould.

The amulet is probably a fake, although made of faience or a very fine terracotta and imitating a known type. Petrie describes several types of cat amulets in his work on Egyptian amulets, but all have a true glaze. Glazed examples in similar poses are known from the Petrie Museum, dating to the Roman Period (UC79069 amd UC79115, - blue and yellow glaze), and Dynasty 18 from Armarna (UC1213 - yellow glaze). A mould for a gaurdant cat amulet at the Petrie Museum (UC69054) dates to the Late Period and is said to be from Memphis. Fakes of the same unglazed type are also described by Wakeling in his work on forged Egyptian antiquities.

Fake amulets were produced in vast numbers in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries for sale to unsuspecting tourists. Many examples are known from First World War collections but it is unknown how Pte Chenery came to acquire his collection of fake cat amulets as he apparently never visited Egypt during his war service. This example is one of a collection of eight such amulets acquired by Chenery.

AD 1900 - AD 1918

Height: 20 mm

Width: 20 mm

Depth: 9 mm

C.005.011

QM H14423.5

© Queensland Museum, Peter Waddington.

Said to have been collected by Pte. F Chenery, Egypt, 1917-18.

Queensland Museum, Brisbane

Hagen, F. & Ryholt, K. S. B. (2016). The antiquities trade in Egypt 1880-1930: the H.O. Lange papers. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, pp. 147-52.

Jones, M. (ed.). (1990). Fake? The Art of Deception. British Museum, no. 272.

Wakeling, T.G. (1912). Forged Egyptian Antiquities. A&C Black.

Steindorff, G., & Rosenthal, G. (1947). Fakes and Fates of Egyptian Antiquities: A Supplement to the Catalogue of Egyptian Sculpture. The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, 10, 52-59. www.jstor.org/stable/20168799

Petrie, W. M. F. (1914). Amulets. Constable & Co. Ltd. pp. 46, type 224.

Amulets. (18th Dynasty-Roman). [Faience amulets in the form of seated cats; moulds for cat amulets]. Petrie Museum, London. UC79063; 79115; 69054; 1213.

Queensland Museum Historical Register, H14417-23.

P.005

Mr James Donaldson