Gayer-Anderson cat
Encyclopedia
The Gayer-Anderson Cat is an Ancient Egyptian statue
of a cat made out of bronze, from the Late Period
, about 664-332 BC.
. The statue is a representation of the cat-goddess Bastet. The cat wears jewellery
and a protective wedjat amulet
. The earrings and nose ring on the statue may not have always belonged to the cat. While they certainly are ancient, an early photograph of the cat shows the statue wearing a different pair. A winged scarab appears on the chest and head, it is 42cm high and 13cm wide. A copy of the statue is kept in the Gayer-Anderson Museum
, located in Cairo
.
The cat was manufactured by the lost wax method where a wax model is covered with clay or clay and water until there is sufficient thickness. The clay can then be fired in a kiln and the wax flows out. The now hollow mould can be refilled with bronze. In this case the metal was 85% copper, 13% tin, 2% arsenic with a 0.2% trace of lead. The remains of the pins that held the wax core can still be seen using x-rays. The original metalworkers would have been able to create a range of colours on a bronze casting and the stripes on the tail are due to metal of a differeing composition. It is also considered likely that the eyes contained stone or glass decorations.
Art of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts produced by the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 BC to 300 AD. Ancient Egyptian art reached a high level in painting and sculpture, and was both highly stylized and symbolic...
of a cat made out of bronze, from the Late Period
Late Period of Ancient Egypt
The Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
, about 664-332 BC.
Style and detail
The sculpture is now known as the Gayer-Anderson cat after Major Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson who donated it, together with Mary Stout Shaw, to the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. The statue is a representation of the cat-goddess Bastet. The cat wears jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
and a protective wedjat amulet
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
. The earrings and nose ring on the statue may not have always belonged to the cat. While they certainly are ancient, an early photograph of the cat shows the statue wearing a different pair. A winged scarab appears on the chest and head, it is 42cm high and 13cm wide. A copy of the statue is kept in the Gayer-Anderson Museum
Gayer-Anderson Museum
The Gayer-Anderson Museum is located in Cairo, Egypt, adjacent to the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in the Sayyida Zeinab neighborhood. The museum takes its name from Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson Pasha, who resided in the house between 1935 and 1942 with special permission from the Egyptian Government...
, located in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
.
Construction
The statue is not as well preserved as it appears. X-Rays taken of the sculptire reveal that there are cracks that extend almost completely around the centre of the cats body and only an internal system of strengthening prevents the cat's head from falling off. The repairs to the cat are thought to have been carried out by Major Gayer-Anderson who was a keen restorer of antiquities in the 1930s. He is thought to have rediscovered the surface of the cat after the presumed corrosion had been removed.The cat was manufactured by the lost wax method where a wax model is covered with clay or clay and water until there is sufficient thickness. The clay can then be fired in a kiln and the wax flows out. The now hollow mould can be refilled with bronze. In this case the metal was 85% copper, 13% tin, 2% arsenic with a 0.2% trace of lead. The remains of the pins that held the wax core can still be seen using x-rays. The original metalworkers would have been able to create a range of colours on a bronze casting and the stripes on the tail are due to metal of a differeing composition. It is also considered likely that the eyes contained stone or glass decorations.
Further reading
- Clutton-Brock, J. The British Museum book of Cat. London: The British Museum Press, 2000.
- Warner, Nicholas. Guide to the Gayer-Anderson Museum, Cairo. Cairo: Press of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2003.