I was watching a mash-up rebroadcast of Antiques Roadshow the other night when a pair of Victorian calligraphic drawings suddenly appeared, including one very charming cat. You can see the appraisal–with appraiser Carl Crossman stating that he and his colleagues have seen plenty of calligraphic deer and eagles but few cats–here. Crossman loved the cat (and valued it at around $3500-$4000) and so do I, so of course I had to find one for myself. Calligraphy has always been a more integral feature of Islamic and East Asian art than that of the West, and I found some nice Asian BIG cats, but domestic calligraphic cats from Europe and America were indeed difficult to track down.
Calligraphic Tigers from Japan (18th century) and Pakistan (19th century), Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
In the west, calligraphic drawings seem to emerge first in the general instructional workbooks of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century tutors and their students. The owl and the pussycat below, which come closest to capturing the charm of my beloved Antiques Roadshow cat, were drawn by Dutch instructor Jacob Labotz for his students to copy and thus perfect their hands. So I started my search through the available instructional texts, starting with the later seventeenth century and working my way up to the later 1800s, when “flourishing” offhand calligraphy, combining writing and drawing, flourished. Mr. Crossman was correct: I found lots of birds (more doves than eagles), and no cats.
“Mary Serjant her book scholler to Eliz Bean Mrs. in the art of writing and arithmetick”, 1688, Beineke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
I expanded my search to include museum collections, antique-shop inventories, and auction archives and could only find more calligraphic birds, in addition to a few horses and donkeys, rabbits, the occasional dragon, and this wonderful elephant, produced in Ohio in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. I would have snapped it right up if it was not already sold.
This elusive elephant inspired me to dig deeper and reminded me of an image that I do have: a calligraphic deer in the form of a John Derian tray: perhaps the source could lead me to a similarly drawn cat? Fortunately the Real Pen–Work. Self-Instructor in Penmanship (Pittsfield, MA: Knowles & Maxim, 1881) is available online: there I found my deer, along with flourished and fanciful birds of all feathers, fish, horses, and a big cat.
I’m going to keep looking for the perfect Spencerian calligraphic cat drawing, but in the mean time I think I’ll settle for yet another John Derian plate (I’m embarrassed to count how many I have), because this one comes very close to my feverishly-sought-after feline.
November 15th, 2012 at 8:06 am
Really interesting post.
-Thank you.
November 15th, 2012 at 8:11 am
Thanks for stopping by, Isobel.
November 15th, 2012 at 9:44 am
Calligraphy is always cool. I have seen old Japanese Calligraphy that I really liked. We have 7 cats as well.
November 15th, 2012 at 9:57 am
Seven cats!!!
November 15th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
lovely post, I lke your plate very much!!
November 17th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
I adore calligraphy and I adore old drawings, so Victorian calligraphic drawings just make me swoon.
That deer is pretty much amazing.
November 17th, 2012 at 9:27 pm
John Derian thought so too, Ana!
November 17th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
I definitely would have not paid that much money for that cat. It’s poorly executed from a calligraphic paint brush perspective.
Pakistan calligraphic art piece looks pretty cool.
I took 3 courses on Western calligraphy as well as Chinese brush painting. The latter is a very serious art..it demands years to control the brush but with expressive spontaneity.
November 17th, 2012 at 9:26 pm
No doubt, Jean–I’m envious.
March 15th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
I have an original calligraphic cat almost identical to the last one on this post. I love her dearly and found “her”, behind a litho of a Gibson Girl out in the barn of our first home.
March 15th, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Good for you & great find, Paula: I’m jealous!
March 16th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
I found your wonderful blog while researching my Calligraphic cat. It’s wonderful with its diversity and depth. I lived in Salem for some years while going to Salem State and worked there for the first few months after I was married and then moved to Maine about 44 years ago. I grew up on the North Shore, and the exposure to the old historic homes and places has had a lasting effect on my taste in homes, their renovation and interest in textiles and their history, manufacture, etc. I’d love to read a post about “Dog Town” in Gloucester, from your perspective. Looking forward to reading more from you.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Great suggestion–will try to get to it this summer.
March 16th, 2013 at 2:12 pm
Looking forward to it.
November 27th, 2019 at 7:33 am
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November 20th, 2022 at 11:58 am
FYI – There is a near duplicate (perhaps an even better version) of the elephant drawing shown in this post in the Johnson-Humrickhouse collection in Coshocton, OH. It is hanging in the basement – currently not on view. 11/20/22
November 21st, 2022 at 4:22 pm
Thanks, Michelle!