london broil marinade Gayer-Anderson Cat - British Museum - June 2016

The Gayer-Anderson Cat is a bronze Ancient Egyptian statue of a cat, which dates from the Late Period (around 664–332 BC).

Style and detail

The sculpture is known as the Gayer-Anderson cat after Major Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson who, together with Mary Stout Shaw, donated it to the British Museum. The statue is a representation of the cat-goddess Bastet. The cat wears jewellery and a protective wadjet amulet. The earrings and nose ring on the statue may not have always belonged to the cat. A scarab appears on the head and a winged scarab is shown on the chest. The statue is 42 cm high and 13 cm wide. A copy of the statue is kept in the Gayer-Anderson Museum, located in Cairo.

Construction

Detail of the head

The statue is not as well preserved as it appears. X-rays taken of the sculpture reveal that there are cracks that extend almost completely around the centre of the cat's body and only an internal system of strengthening prevents the cat's head from falling off. The repairs to the cat were carried out by Major Gayer-Anderson who was a keen restorer of antiquities in the 1930s. When he bought it, the surface of the cat was "covered with a heavy coating of crystalline verdigris and crisp flakes of red patina" which he carefully removed by chipping away at it.

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 differing composition. It is also considered likely that the eyes contained stone or glass decorations.

Interesting article about Gayer-Anderson:

http://www.independent.ie/life/the-ir...

london broil marinade Gayer-Anderson Cat - British Museum - June 2016
Likes	Dislikes
1,081 views views	288 followers
Travel & Events	Upload TimePublished on 17 Aug 2016

Related keywords

citycell,city of lies,city group,london tipton,london tube map,london hotels,city inn khulna,london eye,london ontario,city touch,london broil,london to paris train,london fog,city of god,city university bangladesh,city hospital,city bank bd,city bank job circular,city bank career,citibank branch,london boy,city university,citibank credit card,london house,london time,london boy lyrics,london pass,city corporation,london has fallen,london house chicago,city bank amex card,london weather,city hunter,london has fallen cast,london map,city college dhaka,london bridge,citibank,city college,