{"product_id":"vintage-hand-painted-ceramic-recumbent-tabby-cat-figure-c-1950-1990","title":"Vintage Hand Painted Ceramic Recumbent Tabby Cat Figure, c. 1950–1990","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA hand painted ceramic cat, modelled lying down with the forelegs folded under, the long tail brought forward around the flank, and the head up and turned slightly to one side as though something has just walked into the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe modelling is soft and rounded rather than sharp. The ears are pricked and set wide, the muzzle is short and blunt, and the face is where the painter spent the time: large round eyes outlined in black with a single dot of highlight left in each, a pink nose, and whiskers pulled across the cheeks in three quick dark strokes on each side.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe coat is painted freehand in ochre and soft brown over a cream ground, laid on in broad strokes that follow the body and break the way tabby markings do, with a darker saddle across the shoulders and hips. The chest, the paws and the tip of the tail are left cream. The insides of the ears are washed a pale pink.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe glaze is a satin rather than a high gloss, which keeps the brushwork readable and gives the coat a slightly chalky look in raking light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe body is slip cast and hollow, and the decoration is painted by hand rather than transfer printed. That is legible in the strokes themselves: they vary in loading, one or two run a little past the form they were meant to follow, and the markings are not repeated symmetrically from one side to the other. A printed decoration does none of those things.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNothing on the piece dates it in the documentary sense. There is no maker's mark visible, no registration number and no country of origin stamp, and an absence of that kind sets an outer limit rather than a starting point. Undated decorative wares of this sort were made across a very long span and by a great many hands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat the object itself will support is narrower. The cast body, the satin glaze rather than the bright hard gloss of earlier commercial earthenware, and the freehand painting over a plain ground together place it in the second half of the twentieth century and rule out the nineteenth. The range given below is set at that width deliberately rather than narrowed to sound more certain than the evidence allows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecumbent cats of this scale belong to a long decorative tradition that runs from Staffordshire flatbacks through Continental faience to the studio and factory work of the last century. This one sits at the confident, well painted end of that line without claiming a named workshop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ec. 1950–1990. Dated from construction rather than from style alone. The slip cast hollow body, the satin glaze and the freehand overpainting place it in the second half of the twentieth century. No mark, registration number or country of origin stamp is visible, and that absence gives an outer limit only, which is why the bracket is left wide\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaker\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eUnattributed. No mark visible\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eRecumbent cat, forelegs folded, tail curled forward around the flank, head raised and turned\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSlip cast earthenware, hollow\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDecoration\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHand painted. Ochre and brown tabby markings over cream, darker saddle across the shoulders and hips, cream chest, paws and tail tip, pink inner ears, black outlined eyes and drawn whiskers. Satin glaze\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eNone visible\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDimensions\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eApproximately 9 in. long by 5 in. deep by 7 in. high\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eVery good. No chips, cracks or restoration found. Glaze clean and unworn, painted detail crisp with no rubbing to the face or the markings. Light shelf wear consistent with age and display\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnimal figures are the easiest thing in the world to get wrong and this one is right. The proportions are observed rather than cartooned, the head turn gives it a direction to look in, and the painter drew the face instead of stamping it. That is the difference between a cat you keep and a cat you move to the back of a shelf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colouring is doing quiet work too. Ochre, brown and cream sit against almost any wood, any stone and any warm paint colour, so it can go on a mantel, a stack of books, a kitchen windowsill or a bedside table without having to be designed around.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has scale on its side as well. At nine inches long it reads clearly across a room, which is more than can be said for the small figurines it will usually be shelved beside.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67557631721577,"sku":"VE-1753","price":254.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/01_83fe0774-f201-4cbb-ab06-18ed43215000.jpg?v=1790581916","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/vintage-hand-painted-ceramic-recumbent-tabby-cat-figure-c-1950-1990","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}