Egyptian Cat Statue British Museum

A wonderful history inspired gift.

Egyptian cat statue british museum. The cat represents the goddess bastet and is named after major robert grenville gayer anderson who donated the cat to the british museum in 1939. Her silver breastplate is decorated with the sacred eye of the god horus beneath which is an ornamental scarab and silvered disc. By new kingdom times they had also become household companions. The sculpture is known as the gayer anderson cat after major robert grenville gayer anderson.

Cats were highly revered in ancient egypt and were often found in temples as bastet s representative. Cats were first domesticated by the egyptians in the middle kingdom for their mouse hunting abilities. It is made of bronze with gold ornaments. Gayer anderson was a keen collector of small egyptian sculptures jewellery and pottery.

The regal and highly decorated bronze statue wears gold earrings and a gold nose ring. The largest egyptian sculpture in the british museum represents one of egypt s greatest kings. 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. How did it come to the british museum.

Cats in ancient egypt were represented in social and religious practices of ancient egypt for more than 3 000 years. In the 19th century a shipment of 180 000 of them was sent to britain to be processed into fertilizer. The statue is a representation of the female cat deity bastet. The gayer anderson cat is a sacred temple cat sculpture from the late period of ancient egypt.

The one pictured here was a gift from the egypt. His reign was cut short by a persian invasion and his ultimate fate remains unknown. The statue is 42 cm high and 13 cm wide. The cat wears jewellery and a protective wadjet amulet.

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. The deity mut was also depicted as a cat and in the company of a cat. A scarab appears on the head and a winged scarab is shown on the chest. Cats were highly revered in ancient.

The cat represents the goddess bastet and is named after major robert grenville gayer anderson who donated the cat to the british museum in 1939. The gayer anderson cat an ancient egyptian bronze statue in the british museum london england uk the gayer anderson cat is an ancient egyptian statue of a cat which dates from the late period around 664 332 bc. He showcased these in his home in cairo now known as the gayer anderson museum. The british museum has several examples.

The egyptian sculpture gallery is also home to the sarcophagus of nectanebo ii egypt s last true pharaoh. Several ancient egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured with cat like heads such as mafdet bastet and sekhmet representing justice fertility and power. It s named after major robert grenville gayer anderson who donated the statue to the british museum in 1939. The cat dates from the late period of ancient egypt around 600 bc.

Cat mummies were so common that many cat cemeteries were destroyed before archaeologists could study them.