All throughout hiss-tory, cats have enchanted artists with their playful personalities and captivating quirks. From sacred Egyptian statuettes to Japanese paintings and prints portraying the sly, the snuggly, and the snoozing, fanciful felines abound in The Met collection. Below, find our selection of five paw-some holiday gifts for the cat lover in your life.
The Favorite Cat Plush
Curl up with our cuddly plush inspired by Nathaniel Currier’s The Favorite Cat (1838–48), a hand-colored lithograph in The Met collection. Currier earned lasting fame as coprincipal of the New York–based firm Currier & Ives (American, 1857–1907), renowned in the latter half of the 19th century for their wildly popular prints. This lovable tabby is one of four new plush toys inspired by Museum animals, so click here to meet the rest of the crew, each with The Met logo embroidered on the bottom of their feet.
Toko Cat Silk Neckerchief
In Ōide Tōkō’s (Japanese, 1841–1905) Cat Watching a Spider (ca. 1888–92), a mischievous mouser donning a red-and-blue neckerchief keeps a watchful eye on an unsuspecting arachnid. Our stylish silk neckerchief reimagines the accessory adorning Tōkō’s cat, adapting the same stylized butterfly and flower motifs as seen in the Museum’s painting. Tōkō worked in Tokyo during a period when Japanese artists were actively engaging with western styles. In this delightful artwork, he used ink to render the individual strands of fur in delicate strokes, and then washes for the solid fields of color on the cat’s body and in the painting's background.
Cats of the Museum Magnets
Perfect for the home or office, our set of nine miniature magnets presents a clowder of Met cats, from Currier & Ives’s Little White Kitties (1857–71), who eagerly partake in the milk they’ve spilled; to Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s (French, b. Switzerland, 1859–1923) lounging Cat on a Cushion (1909).
Egyptian New Kingdom Cat Stud Earrings
These delicate stud earrings recall the gold and carnelian cat effigies perched on a cuff bracelet (ca. 1479–1425 B.C.) crafted during Egypt's New Kingdom period. The cats on this extraordinary adornment in The Met collection evoke the goddess Bastet, a powerful protective figure who was revered for her fertility. These animals were sacred to the Egyptian deity, whose cat-headed depictions typically emphasize her peaceful traits.
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