Cat Day

by Delaynna Trim, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art Curator

Did you know that August 8 is International Cat Day? It was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. It has really taken off with social media.  Everyone loves a good cat video! In fact, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Philbrook Museum of Art are hosting Cat Video Fests in September.

The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art has an ancient Egyptian mummified cat and one

Mummified cats

made to look like a mummified cat. Cats were popular pets in ancient Egypt as they kept mice from grain. But, more importantly, the goddess Bastet would sometimes take the appearance of a cat. Bastet was the goddess of home, health, and childbirth. She would protect the home from evil spirits and disease. Because Bastet was a popular goddess, many temples to her were located around Egypt. People would offer her mummified cats in order to get her protection. Eventually, instead of actual cats, they would make bundles of linen look like mummified cats and offer those instead. You can see one of each in the museum’s Ancient Gallery.

In ancient Rome, the cat was a symbol of liberty. The Roman army kept cats with them as they protected their food from rats.

Cats arrived in Japan from China in the mid-sixth century. There are many stories about the origin of the maneki neko, the beckoning or lucky cat statues. One story says that a samurai had taken refuge from a rainstorm under a tree and a cat had beckoned him into a nearby temple. As soon as he left, the tree was hit by lightning.

Cats were often associated with witchcraft in the Medieval Europe. However, we know that many monasteries still had cats because they would often appear in illustrated manuscripts that the monks were creating. In fact, a well-known poem about a white cat, Pangar Bán, was written by an Irish monk in Reichenau Abbey in the ninth century.  It has been reinterpreted many times throughout the centuries, most famously by W. H. Auden and Seamus Heaney.

Cats gained popularity again as a pet in the 19th century, with the first cat show in the US happening in New York City in 1895. Cats are now one of the most popular pets in the US with over 80 million cats residing in 37 million US households.

The MGMoA has free admission until the end of August, so come check out all the art featuring cats and dogs.

For a video on how to create a mummified cat and more cat crafts, check out www.mgmoa.org/art-projects/.

Do you want to make your own (pretend) mummified cat?  Here’s how:

Supplies:

Toilet paper roll or paper towel roll

Gold wrapping paper or gold paint

Tape

Black marker

Cut the wrapping paper to cover the tube. Secure with the tape. If you prefer, you can paint the tube with gold paint instead. After the paper is secured or paint is dry, fold over the top edges to create the ears. Next, use the black marker to draw the cat face, wrappings, etc.