The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Grey-brown, bronze cat coffin in the shape of a cat seated on its high legs, front paws pressed together. Its tail curves around its right side where the tip meets with its front paws. The cat looks straight out, its eyelids finely detailed and with its left pointed ear partially chipped away. Looking at its chest, among the chipped bronze with slight green discoloration, faint, curving lines can be seen scratched into the surface.

Cat Coffin

305–30 BCE

Egypt, Greco-Roman period

(332 BCE–395 CE), Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BCE)
bronze, hollow cast
Overall: 51 x 14.1 x 24 cm (20 1/16 x 5 9/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1917.998
Location: 107 Egyptian

Did You Know?

A necklace appears to have been incised or scratched into the finished bronze; faint traces are visible on the chest.

Description

Although the cat is considered the most Egyptian of animals, as an object of worship the cat does not appear until late in Egyptian history. This unusually large statue of a cat was made to hold the mummified remains of a sacred cat. The coffin is, of course, hollow, with an open bottom. As usual, the animal’s tail is curled around its right side.
  • ?-1917
    Dikran G. Kelekian, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1917-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 7 archive.org
    Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 37; Mentioned: p. 33, p. 62
    Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 438
  • A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1981b). no. 31
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (29 August 1952 - 2 April 1953).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1916). no. 163, p. 225
  • {{cite web|title=Cat Coffin|url=false|author=|year=305–30 BCE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1917.998