vintage photo time: cat says "hey baby"

from the ever growing collection

Oh, cat, do not try to jump in that lap.  Nobody involved will be happy if you do.

bulldogs on the beach

courtesy theathenaeum.com. public domain

What an odd work this is, almost Surrealist.  A pack of bulldogs in a hyper-realist style are plopped on a deserted shore, with a collage-like effect as if they had been cut out and pasted there.  I'd never have guessed this artist painted for British (and other) royalty.  This is Reuben Ward Binks, Bulldogs on the Beach, from around 1914.  Binks was an English artist who died in 1950 after a long, industrious career as one of the world's premier dog painters, including that time he went to India to paint 150 artworks for the Maharajah of Patiala.

"here is a story of a very fearless little kitten..."

. . . It was a Swiss one, and lived in the Swiss capital, Berne.
One day it was playing on the edge of the bear-pit, and amidst its frolics grew heedless, and fell between the bars down into the den. The spectators were dismayed, and thought to see it cruelly murdered; but no. The kitten was not frightened. It bristled up as fiercely as possible in great wrath at the threats of Mr. Bruin, and the great bear was regularly taken aback, and instead of having his intended feast he marched off, leaving the little cat to do as it liked.

  -- from The Clan of the Cats: True Stories about the Feline Animals (London:  Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, 1877),  p. 20.  Here is some information on the Bern bearpit (the "Barengraben"), and its current website.

extra: wordless wednesday

greendog

image copyright & by permission of  giovanni dall'orto

Something fun for Wednesday: a topiary of a dog leaping for joy.  This was taken in the grounds of the Palazzo Doria-Pamphili in Genoa, some years ago; I wonder if the gardeners there still shape dogs out of potted bushes.  Meanwhile, perhaps you want to try a moss mutt topiary yourself - choose your breed. (Wow.)

a dog in january: book of hours

courtesy of the british library. public domain

For the January page of a Book of Hours, a woman blows on her cold hands as she walks her dog in the snow, both of them heading for shelter, warmth and friends.  This dates from c. 1510-15, and was created in the southern Netherlands.  (British Museum, Egerton 1147, ff 1v-11v, 229-260)

mlle. dupuy thanks her cat handsomely

. . .But we may repeat the touching anecdote of Bayle's friend, Mlle. Dupuy. This lady excelled to a surprising degree in playing the harp, and she attributed her excellence in this accomplishment to her cat, whose critical taste was only equalled by his close attention to Mile. Dupuy's performance. She felt that she owed so much to this cat, under whose care her reputation for skill on the harp had become universal, that when she died she left him, in her will, one agreeable house in town and another in the country. To this bequest she added a revenue sufficient to supply all the requirements of a well-bred tom-cat, and at the same time she left pensions to certain persons whose duty it should be to wait upon him. Her ignoble family contested the will, and there was a long suit. Moncrif gives a handsome double-plate illustration of this incident. Mlle. Dupuy, sadly wasted by illness, is seen in bed, with her cat in her arms, dictating her will to the family lawyer in a periwig; her physician is also present.

-- from Edmund Gosse, Gossip in a Library (New York: Lovell, Coryell & Co., 1891), p. 181.

I also found more about this will, in which Mlle. Dupuy spells out just how her cats (it seems she was survived by two) should be served:

Madame Dupuis, the famous harpist of the seventeenth century, directed that if her two cats survived her, thirty sous a week must be laid out upon them, in order that they might live well. "They are to be served daily, in a clean and proper manner, with two meals of meat-soup, the same as we eat ourselves, but it is to be given them separately in two soup-plates. The bread is not to be cut up into the soup, but must be broken into squares about the size of a nut, otherwise they will refuse to eat it. A ration of meat, finely minced, is to be added to it; the whole is then to be mildly seasoned, put into a clean pan, covered close, and carefully simmered before it is dished up."

-- from Appletons' Journal, vol. 9 (July-December 1880; New York: D. Appleton & Company), p. 323.

a foal makes a friend

thanks wikimedia commons (PD-100)

Under mom's watchful eye and switching tail, a horse child asks a strange sort of little horse about himself.  The new "horse" has his tail tucked under; never know when an impulsive young'un will bite.  This is 1822's Broodmare with Foal, and a Terrier, an oil on canvas by Benjamin Marshall (British; 1768 - 1835). Marshall was a painter of sporting and animal subjects of the George Stubbs variety, though Stubbs I think tends to be more dark and dramatic in his color.  Marshall's work has a dry, somewhat starker palette.  He also had a feel for the interactions between animals, and between animals and the viewer.

this is my cat on bracelets

I make beaded bracelets to relax (I sell them on Etsy, just haven't kept my store up).  KatVonD loves bracelets. They're so shiny and skittery, and grabbing them makes mom yell, which is extra fun.
I'd make her a little beaded collar but she won't have it, nuh uh uh.

vintage photo time: a dog in june

where did I find this?

"Duke. June 1950," says the written note on the back. 

"the dog who was a cat inside"

image is copyright of s. melchior/trunk animation

You are a friendly dog who wants to be a plain ordinary dog, but you have a cat inside you that wants cat things...that wants OUT.    What happens?  You'll find out in this short animated film by Siri Melchior, done in a jaunty, expressive collage/drawing mix.  Happy ending, don't you worry.

morris the politico

Yes we cat.

That's just one of the slogans helping to rocket feline candidate Morris to the front of the mayoral race in Xalapa, Mexico.  (And it makes a swell T-shirt.)  Sergio Chamorro's black and white cat didn't set out to be  the new face of local politics; it started out as a joke, but before anyone knew it, Morris had a Facebook page and Twitter account (@candigatomorris), and not least a fab website with a good chunk devoted to fan images of the Candigato.
Some more choice slogans?  (I'm translating some of these myself, be warned)
Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat.
Extensive legislative experience (This poster shows Morris lounging and yawning.)
Vote for Morris...He doesn't do anything
You should vote for another animal.

I insist you see the fan art.  Especially the Grumpy Cat spoof poster.
Election day is July 7.

a tudor terrier

I'll be sending you shortly to a blog I love dearly, Two Nerdy History Girls, but here's why:  They have already written a fine long post on the ship's dog of the English ship the Mary Rose, which sank in July of 1545.
As archaeologists were excavating the wreck site (is it still "excavating" if it's under water?), they found a number of items, human remains, and next to a cabin hatch, a dog skeleton.  She was a girl terrier. The archaeologists called her Hatch.

Here's the website for the Mary Rose's museum.  Be sure and check out the page on the crew, though Hatch isn't mentioned on there yet that I can see.

vintage photo time: fun couple

found somewhere in fremont

Out in the country, with a thick ol' ciggy, sunbrowned in a halter top, holding an adorable patch-eyed dog of whom you are clearly proud.  Good times. (Except for the cig, but that was then.)  What a cute couple of creatures.  Summer is here.

i'm a spaniel. why, who are you?

thanks wikimedia commons. (PD-old-100)

Sometime around 1763 the Venetian painter Tiepolo was asked to paint a royal pet.  I'm sure he didn't expect to be quite so minutely examined by his subject. This is "Portrait of a Toy Spaniel Belonging to the Infanta Maria Josefa of Bourbon," an oil on panel entirely typical for Tiepolo in its luminosity and feeling for this creature.  Frankly, the pet was far more attractive than its owner.

take your dog for a sunday walk!

courtesy of reusableart.com

No idea what old book this came from.  I'm posting it because it perfectly encapsulates the joy dogs - and people! - feel on a fine day's walk.  We'll take ours on one today. I hope you get to do likewise.

cat nursing kittens, 1720

www.loc.gov, FP 2 - JPD, no. 2048, no known restrictions on publication

Here's a woodcut from 1720 by the Japanese artist Tachibana Morikuni.  Though the record at the Library of Congress didn't say, this is probably on mulberry paper. After almost 300 years it's gotten extremely fragile.  Yet the image of a proud momcat with a couple of kittens, one of them on a hump-backed pounce setting for Mom's enticing tail, is as natural and fresh as anything you might make today.  Don't you love how that feisty one in back is primarily built out of stripes?

the dog's character: "he loves not him that loves not you"

In an 1804 miscellany on the dog, the mysterious "Another Author" speaks eloquently on all good things fido.
* * *
THE DOG'S CHARACTER,
by ANOTHER AUTHOR, IN VERSE.

The Dog, of all the quadrupeds,
For sport and faithfulness exceeds;
Of all the beasts, he best attends,
His master, and with care defends;
Does what he's bid, and tho' he's beat,
Submissive lays him at his feet,
So soon he can his wrongs forget.
Nay, tho' he's driv'n away with spurns,
With wagging tail he still returns
When you his excellence display,
He's sensible of what you say,
And in dumb show his thanks will pay.
Whene'er you fail, he goes on board,
And when you swim, he takes the ford:
Pursues you thro' the boist'rous waves,
Nor in the horrid tempest leaves.
With you o'er rugged mounts he goes,
.And guards you thro' a host of foes,
But to your friends due fondness shews.
Still all the day he keeps in view,
Nor is he in the dark less true,
He loves not him that loves not you.
Thro' all the labours of the wood,
He toils to make your pastime good;
Runs down for you the nimble hare,
And in his mouth untorn does bear;
Pursues all game, thro' brush and brake,
Not for his own, but master's sake.
When you repose, he couches by,
Or bears his chain contentedly:
Your house's and your poultry's guard,
Drives thieves and foxes from your yard,
In sleep secure your household store,
He barks all treachery from the door.
He asks no dainty bit, or cup
Profuse, to keep his spirits up.
Content the humblest food to lick,
A crust to gnaw, or bone to pick;
Whom would not such cheap servants please!
Who would not love such friends as these?

The general character of the dog: illustrated by a variety of original and interesting anecdotes, Joseph Taylor, ed. (London: Darton and Harvey, 1804) pp. 11-12.

white cat snugglefest

copyright and by kindest permission of the artist

This splendid watercolor is "Cats in Love" by Alisa Wilcher.  I love how the cats have some parts carefully picked out, like those two pink-padded feet, and then in other places they're allowed to meld into each other, their forms built out of shading and color.  Alisa's cat art can be found on Etsy at MyRudyGirl, but you should also see her blog Alisa Paints for all her work.

puss in boots, tough as boots

thanks wikimedia commons. public domain

Heath Robinson illustrates the most bad-ass Puss in Boots ever, in Old-time Stories (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1921).  I didn't know Robinson was a British cartoonist famous for coming up with crazily-purposed machines, among which was the "multimovement tabby silencer" that automatically lobbed water at howling cats.  Which explains perhaps how he could perfectly capture that cat's expression.

waldmuller's "dog by basket of grapes"

courtesy the-athaneum.org. public domain

Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller (Austrian, 1793-1895) was one of the leading painters of the Biedemeier period, a stylistic era in Germanic and central Europe in which domestic subjects and homely comforts took precedence.  That's a big blanket statement, as the Biedermeier period had much of its genesis in political and cultural repression and resulted in a fair number of artists and thinkers decamping for freer air in other countries, but you can read about that a bit here.  Does that mean Waldmuller bought into repression?  No - in fact, he spent five years of his late career at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in forced retirement because his educational ideas didn't toe their lines.
Waldmuller believed that studying nature and working in plein-air made for good painting. As you can see, he was a master of this attack, and not least in the avid face of this mighty little watchguy in 1835's A Dog by a Basket of Grapes in a Landscape.

1829: in memoriam of a twisting tom(cat)

An essaysist known only as "S." wrote a wistful yet jolly article for the June 1829 Pocket Magazine in which he remembered his worthy companion:  "I have had every reason to rejoice at the frequent visits of the rats and mice to my dormitory," he tells us, "for they introduced me to a being in whose friendly attentions I could confidently look for consolation. This friend was no other than My CAT, whose agility and ability, displayed in destroying the devourers, induced me to give him the title of Twisting Tom; and who never failed to greet me with his faithful purrings on my return home."  Alas, Tom did not wake up one morning, and so S. repaired to St. James' Park, there to write
 

Tom's Epitaph

The dearest friends must part, 'tis true,
No one can doubt of death;
And if I fondly think of you,
While I have life and breath,
Who has a right to say I'm wrong,
Or take the virtues from
My kind old friend of purring song,
My trusty, twisting Tom?

The rats and mice, when I'd no slice
For you and me to dine,
Have oft for you made dinner nice,
While Humphrey's Duke gave mine.
And whether rich, or poor, I came,
Thou gav'st me greeting home;
And shall I then forget thy fame,
My trusty, twisting Tom?

No, never be it said, that I,
Who once had friends in store,
That at my wants and woes would fly
And open every door;—
Can e'er forget the loss of one
Who always wish'd I'd come;
And prove till Death his dart had thrown,
My trusty, twisting Tom!

Though now forlorn and lost I tread,
With wandering steps and slow;
And where to-night may lay my head,
Scarce feel a care to know;—
Yet mindful of thy alter'd state,
No longer doom'd to roam,
I almost wish myself thy fate,
My trusty, twisting Tom!

By “S.” in The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature (London: James Robins & Co.) Vol I (June 1829), pp. 241-245.

save the date 6/13/2013 - ana novella for the museum of maritime pets

Click on the above announcement to embiggen - and if you are in Annapolis in June or July, go visit our friends at the Museum of Maritime Pets and see the work of Ana Novella.  Which you will love.

mike the british museum cat

I thought I knew about every museum cat of any reputation (even the bad ones), but I never knew about THE museum cat - Mike, of the British Museum (1909-1929).  He was dropped off as a tiny kitten at the doorstep of Sir E. Wallis Budge, the Museum's Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities, by Black Jack, the feline incumbent of the institution.  It's a poor student that doesn't excel his master, and Mike became the most famed kitty associate of this great museum.  But to read all about him, you should go right now to this excellent page at Purr-n-Fur UK.
Meanwhile, here is a link to the Museum's stunning Mexican cat-head ring (Mixtec, circa 12th-16th c) and a sweet-faced Egyptian cat mummy coffin.

vintage photo time: looking towards summer

i can't remember where I found this

I like to think this dog is eagerly looking forward into the oncoming summer.

tgif with kat von d

Don't get too comfortable or anything, Kat Von D.

. . . sheesh.
TGIF everyone!

flaxman with a (neo)classic dog

courtesy nga.gov. open access/public domain

John Flaxman (British; 1755-1826) was a leading force behind Neoclassicism, which revisited the themes and styles of ancient Greece and Rome.  His chosen media, sculpture and engraving, lent themselves very well to the clarity of this style.  I'd always found his work interesting for its crisp discipline, but what I didn't know till recently was that he was a kind, modest man held dear by his friends and acquaintances.  This morning's find clinches that.  Though it's only a rough graphite drawing, there is enormous feeling in the interplay between the woman's hand and the dog's bowed head.  I also love the way the draperies and the dog's back become a pleasantly rounded outline that snuggles the two together.

robert burns writes a lapdog's epitaph

It seems that during a trip the Scots poet Burns made to Galloway in July 1793, he was the guest of the Gordon family.  Mrs. Gordon's dog Echo had just passed away, and she was asking everyone for memorial verses.  She was not about to let an actual, bona-fide poet get away without adding his genius to the mix - so even though he wasn't happy about it, Burns manned up. And here's the resulting poem. On the Death of a Lap-Dog, Named Echo. In wood and wild, ye warbling throng, Your heavy loss deplore; Now, half extinct your powers of song, Sweet Echo is no more. Ye jarring, screeching things around, Scream your discordant joys; Now, half your din of tuneless sound With Echo silent lies. -- from The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, vol. 2 (Kilmarnock: James M'Kie, 1871) p. 161

rupi's dance / with an old black cat

Ian Anderson (you may know him as the frontman for Jethro Tull) put out a charming album in 2003 titled Rupi's Dance.  Rupi at the time was a wee black girl kitten who has a song of the same name in her honor among the tracks.  Another is called "Old Black Cat," and starts so:

My old black cat passed away this morning

He never knew what a hard day was.

Woke up late and danced on tin roofs.

If questioned “Why?” – answered, “Just because.”

It's a thoughtful farewell to a friend with no airs and nine short lives.  Here's the lyrics and Ian's commentary; and you may listen to "Old Black Cat" here on YouTube along with the rest of the album. 

black cats: they go with everything

thanks wikimedia commons. public domain

"Black and Red" by the American painter and illustrator John White Alexander (1856 - 1915).  The cat's ears are back; I wonder what she's telling it.

some great finds in dog proverbs

I'm writing an article on proverbs today, and while researching I found some on dogs that I had never seen before.  Have you seen any of these?

Talking too much arouses the dog from sleep. – Trinidad
The dog that defecates in the road forgets all about it, but the person who has to remove it does not forget. - Martinique
- from Lafcadio Hearn, "Gombo Zhebes": Little dictionary of Creole Proverbs

Caress your dog, and he will spoil your clothes – English
Too much pudding may choke a dog – English
A fence lasts three years, a dog lasts three fences, a horse three dogs, and a man three horses. – German
A modest dog seldom grows fat. – English
- from John Barten, ed., A Select Collection of English and German Proverbs, Proverbial Expressions . . . 

He loveth thee as well as a dog loves onions. – Italian (which would be not a whole lot, I think)
Why does the dog lick the pan? Because he cannot eat the Pie. – Old British
- from James Howell, ed., Lexicon Tetraglotton, an English-French-Italian-Spanish Dictionary