Cat Statuettes in Ancient Egypt and Modern America :: Advertisement Symbolism History Essays

Cat Statuettes in Ancient Egypt and Modern America Although ancient Egyptians admired similar statuettes of cats as modern Americans collect today, the Egyptians saw these statuettes as religious symbols with long histories, and the modern Americans see these statuettes as a way of showing the love and admiration that they feel towards their cats. An advertisement for a porcelain statuettes that was made to look like an Egyptian cat statuette shows that this type of statuette survived for a very long time. It is made out of a type of porcelain and its earrings are made out of gold. It has a glass dome covering it and at its base are Egyptian hieroglyphics that are hand painted. (Cats (Vol.52, November 1996) p. 11) This advertisement, that I found in the November 1996 issue of "Cats" magazine, is aimed at people who love cats and most likely have cats as pets. The rest of the magazine confirms the fact that it is meant for people who own cats. The other articles are mostly about cat nutrition and health. The other advertisements also involve cats. These advertisements included cat Christmas tree ornaments, cat jewelry, and cat soap. There were many different representations of cats in ancient Egyptian art. There were also many cat statuettes. The one I thought most closely represented the cat statuettes in the advertisement is the bronze "Gayer-Anderson" cat. (Jasomir Malek, Cats in Ancient Egypt ( London: British Museum Press, 1993) pp.12 ) It was named after the collector who donated it to the British Museum. Made around 600B.C., its body is made out of bronze with inlaid silver as well as gold earrings and a gold nose ring.(Jasomir Malek, Cats in Ancient Egypt ( London: British Museum Press, 1993)pp.12) It was made for a totally different purpose than the modern cat statuettes. During this time there was an increase in the number of cults that used animals as their cult images. These statuette were probably used as representations of the goddess Bastet.(Jasomir Malek, Cats in Ancient Egypt ( London: British Museum Press, 1993) pp.98 ) The goddess Bastet enjoyed what could be called the greatest increase of po pularity of all the animals who were part of these cults.(Jasomir Malek, Cats in Ancient Egypt ( London: British Museum Press, 1993) pp. 98 ) The large number of bronze statuette that were made during this time clearly illustrated the cat's immense popularity.