The Gayer-Anderson cat is a Late Period hollow-cast bronze statue of the female cat deity Bastet shown with an inlaid silver sun-disc and wedjet (Eye of Horus) pectoral on the chest and golden earrings and nose-rings.
Bastet was believed to be the daughter of the sun-god Ra, due to the fierce nature of cats Bastet is often depicted as a protector of the Pharaoh. Her worship appears to be native to Bubastis in the Nile River delta but she also had an important cult at Memphis.
It was named after Major Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson who, together with Mary Stout Shaw, donated it to the British Museum in 1939.
Details
Period: Late Period
Dimensions: 42 cm high and 13 cm wide
Location: British Museum, G4/B10
Findspot: Saqqara, Memphis
Materials: silver, gold, bronze
Museum number: EA64391
Registration number: 1947,1011.1
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