i6 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



break to the cat-loving painter, who, however, 

 managed to save his favourite pet Minette from 

 the wholesale massacre. 



Very quaint reproductions of cats have been 

 made in the following wares : Whieldon, Salt 

 Cilaze, Agate, and Staffordshire. With Chinese 

 and Japanese cat figures we are all familiar ; 

 they are grotesque rather than beautiful. 



Coming down to the cat artists of the present 

 day, we would mention Madame Henriette 

 Ronner, who has justly deserved the great repu- 

 tation that she has acquired in her own country 

 as well as ours. It is in depicting kittens in 

 their ever-vary- 

 ing moods that 

 MadameRonner 

 most excels. 

 Whether play- 

 ing havoc with 

 antique lace, as 

 in " Un Bout 

 de Toilette," 

 scattering an 

 artist's materi- 

 als, as in " Mis- 

 chief," or drag- 

 ging jewels from 

 a casket, her 

 kittens are 

 instinct with 

 vitality, and are 

 portrayed in a manner implying knowledge of 

 their anatomical structure, as well as in a most 

 appreciative perception of their youth and 

 beauty. Most lovers of cats are acquainted 

 with Madame Ronner's artistic volume con- 

 taining so many faithful and lovely reproduc- 

 tions of several of her best pictures, and an 

 interesting account of her life and work written 

 by Mr. M. H. Spielmann. 



Another famous painter of cats is M. Eugene 

 Lambert, who may be said to divide the honours 

 with Madame Ronner in portraying with fidelity 

 and artistic taste the feline race. Among 

 English animal painters we have none who can 

 come anywhere near to these two celebrated 

 French artists in their marvellous delicacy of 

 touch andsubtle skill in depicting cat and kittens. 



" CRYSTAL," 

 THE PROPERTY OF MRS. FINNIE YOUNG. (Photo: C. Reid, Wishaiu.') 



In these latter days who is there amongst 

 us, young and old, who has not enjoyed 

 a hearty laugh over the comical cats of 

 Louis Wain ? In his particular line, he 

 is unique, for no one has ever portrayed 

 cats in such various attitudes and with 

 such deliciously expressive countenances. The 

 adjectives and adverbs of the Cataract of 

 Lodore would not suffice to describe the 

 varied emotions of these funny felines. A 

 Christmas without one of Louis Wain's 

 clever m catty pictures would be like a 

 Christmas pudding without the currants ! 



To Harrison 

 Weir cats and 

 cat lovers owe 

 a debt of grati- 

 tude. He has 

 done much to 

 raise the stand- 

 ard of the feline 

 race, and in his 

 excellent book 

 called "Our 

 Cats," he thus 

 writes in his 

 preface : 



"Long ages of 

 neglect, ill treat- 

 ment, and abso- 

 lute cruelty, with 

 little or no gentleness, kindness, or train- 

 ing, have made the cat self-reliant ; and from 

 this emanates the marvellous powers of 

 observation, the concentration of which has pro- 

 duced a style analogous to reasoning, not unmixed 

 with timidity, caution, wildness, and a retaliative 

 nature. But should a new order of things arise, 

 and it is nurtured, petted, cosseted, talked to, 

 noticed, and tamed with mellowed firmness 

 and tender gentleness, then in but a few genera- 

 tions much evil that bygone cruelty has stamped 

 into its wretched existence will disappear, and 

 it will be more than ever, not only a useful, ser- 

 viceable helpmate, but an object of unceasing 

 interest, admiration, and cultured beauty, and 

 thus being of value, it will be profitable." 



It was Harrison Weir who instituted and 

 carried out the first Cat Show held at the 



