British Museum Friends - Young Friends | Meet the animals hiding in our collection 🐾

 

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Start your animal adventure at the Museum  Dear Dominic, This week in Young Friends, we’re going to meet some of the wild and wonderful animals hiding in our collection! Read on to discover how your favourite animals have helped shape history. This week you can… Make your own Gayer-Anderson cat Go on an animal trail across the Museum Create your own origami animals Learn about the history of bees in the collection For older Young Friends, learn more on the influence of tigers in traditional Chinese culture and uncover hidden animal images in the Iron Age Witham shield with curator Julia Farley. Discover even more at the Museum with our Museum explorer trail and enjoy seeing the amazing creations from other Young Friends. We would love to see what you make too, please share your creations with us! Read on to get involved!  The Young Friends and Schools and Family Programmes Teams

Activities to try at home

Gayer-Anderson cat The Gayer-Anderson cat is a bronze sculpture that depicts the ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet. Have a go at making your own. Get crafting Arty animals trail  Go on a safari around the world and discover the wild and wonderful arty animals found in the Museum. Get exploring

Origami animals Origami is the ancient art of Japanese paper folding. Try creating your own origami inspired by Japanese prints in the collection. Make now The bee's knees People have been keeping bees across the world throughout history. Explore the fascinating objects in the Museum related to beekeeping and bees. Learn more

Some of these are articles are taken from Remus magazine. Visit our digital archive to dive into new and past issues of Remus.

Older Young Friends Ages 14+

China's talismanic tigers Learn more about how, in traditional Chinese culture, the image of a tiger was used as a symbol of bravery, and how its depiction also acted as a defensive talisman. Learn more Hidden animals in Celtic art Join curator Julia Farley as she shares the hidden images of animals found on the Witham shield, a British Iron Age shield found in the River Witham in 1826. Watch now

Find the connection in the collection What is the connection between these three objects? Hint: think carefully about how accurately each object represents its animal.  Read on below to find out.

Visiting the Museum soon?

Museum explorer trail Fantastic creatures Voyage around the world to discover how people have painted, carved, hunted and farmed animals throughout history. Download now

Connection in the collection answers  All three objects were created by artists who never actually saw the real animals! The elephant sculptures were likely based on drawings and sketches from Buddhist sources that depicted Asian elephants.   Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) based his rhinoceros woodcut on an anonymous written description and a quick sketch of an Indian rhinoceros brought to Lisbon in 1515. Maruyama Okyo (1733–95) faced the challenge that there weren’t any live tigers in Japan at the time. So, he used pictures from China, studied cats and imagined how a tiger might move and behave based off this. One theory even suggests he studied tiger skins, which might explain the flattened tiger faces in his work! You can watch the video below to find out more.  Watch now

Crafts corner  Take a look at the Nemes headdresses Young Friends Thomas and Isabel (aged 6) have created! Share your Young Friends’ creations with us for a chance to be featured in an upcoming Young Friends email. Share now