The Met Store Egyptian Cat Sculpture

Our reproduction, which is based on an Egyptian sculpture of the Ptolemaic period (332–30 B.C.), is produced from a master mold of the original in the Museum’s collection. Cats were first domesticated by the Egyptians in the Middle Kingdom for their mouse-hunting abilities. By New Kingdom times they had also become household companions. In tomb scenes they frequently appear seated beneath the chairs of their owners or on sporting boats in the Nile marshes, where they flush out birds for their masters.