cat collectible

Posting About Postcards!

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today I am taking a moment to revel in my postcard purchases, but also to celebrate the postcard show itself. To anyone who has been to the current incarnation of this sale this might seem a bit extreme as it is in a small church in the West Village and made up of about nine dealers.

The first reference to this show in my life dates back to college when one of my professors, collage artist Maureen McCabe (her site here), mentioned in passing that she loved to go to a postcard show in Manhattan. She would pick up vintage cards which she would use in her collage boxes. (She mentioned getting vintage paper dolls there which I have never seen!) Frankly, in my naivete I had never heard of or considered such a thing. Antique stores and flea markets were a part of my childhood but shows of such things for sale had never really occurred to me. And postcards no less. It set my brain mulling.

The art of Maureen McCabe. “Fate and Magic”, 2013, copyright of the artist. That could be a vintage paperdoll right there…

Fast forward a number of decades and somehow or other it came to my attention that there was a vintage postcard show (the Metropolitan postcard show) at a (then) old and tatty hotel on the far west end of 57th Street. In my memory at the time it was a Howard Johnson, it appears to be called the Watson Hotel now. (Another sliver of memory is that in my 20’s my then boyfriend, Kevin, and I would get day passes just for swimming pool access in hotels in Manhattan in the hottest of summer. This was one of those somewhat cheesy hotels.)

Who would have thought a room with nothing but postcards for sale would be of so much interest? In those years there was probably twice as many dealers and maybe even some ephemera that was beyond postcards. (How big was it when Maureen went?) If memory serves there were a few people of some note signing or roaming the space. I bought fewer cards and spent most of my time and money at a high flying dealer table groaning with Louis Wain cards.

Sadly, with Covid like some many things it shutdown and although I was on their mailing list it seemed to be a number of years before I caught up with them again. Now I find them in the West Village and reduced in size.

Oddly, for me it is perhaps a bit more manageable and I seem to come away with increasingly large scores and yesterday proves the point. It was a miserably rainy day which may have depressed attendance although business seemed reasonably brisk to me. Kim was with me and settled into a pile of photos of early actors and actresses and even made a few purchases and you will probably see those over time too.

View while digging through a box labeled “Cat”.

Today’s card was purchased by me early in the show as I made my way through each dealer; it is Mainzer at his best. I have written about Mainzer before (which can be read here and here) who is sort of the later heir to the Louis Wain throne. Mainzer, as a card producer, picks up that ball in 1938 and runs with it, arguably until at least 2005 when taking the reprints of the cards into consideration. Prior to 1955 the production address was 118 East 28th Street here in New York. (On a whim I did a Google Search on the address and it is worth a look, the Kaime Arcade building with a very interesting facade.) After 1955 it is just noted as Long Island City and that is what is printed on this card. Eugen Hartung was the artist.

While mama cat, dressed for a day of shopping with stockinged legs, heels, hat, gloves and fur trimmed coat, chooses between two postcards, her offspring are tearing the place apart – including I might add, her poodle on a leash! In case you are wondering, yes, each of the postcards has a tiny cat drawing on it. (The other prints on the walls appear to be flowers however.) Allow me to note some oddities about the store. It seems to stock not only postcards, prints and fancy wrap boxes, but oddly globes adorn the shelf too. Cut off at the top seem to be some written labels I cannot quite make out and appear to be written in Hartung’s native Swiss German.

Another view of inside the church where the Metropolitan Postcard show now resides several times a year.

The well appointed shopkeepers are both in a uniform dress with matching necklaces. While the one with glasses focuses on Mrs. Cat, the other tries to contend with the kits. She has come running with a pen in hand, clearly interrupted in her clerical duties. The kittens, two boys and a girl, are well turned out but unlike mom and the salespeople do not wear shoes – bare paws all the better to climb with. Each magically has their tail come out from their clothing – including the little girls whose pantaloons we see. Mom’s tail, and that of the saleslady, appear from under their overclothes. (I’m always curious about how tails are worked into anthropomorphic cats.)

Several kinds of cat are represented for variety – Mrs. Cat is a tabby, the boys a tabby and a tuxie, little girls is a marmalade. The saleswomen are marmalade and lastly an odd mix like maybe she has some Siamese in her. One final curi-oddity is that the pooch, having opened the cabinet below, has released two large mice. No one, even the dog, is paying any attention to their escape. A pleasant mayhem is enjoyed by all.

Back of card – how did it find its way back to the US I wonder.

Someone has penned card b at the bottom right. An addition mystery about this card is the back which shows that this was evidently mailed to Japan from an indeterminate place in 1976 and has, obviously, made its way back to the United States to ultimately be sold to me. It says in a neat childish scrawl, Dear Jacob, the school is very good and close. all the children are kind to me. I am learning and getting better. I will see you in camp. Nathan. It was sent to: Jacob G. Cohen, 1-32-28 Ebisu-nishi, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo, 150 Japan. (And for your information, a postcard to Japan in 1976 cost twenty-one cents.)

Lastly (because I have clearly droned on a bit) may I just say that curiously this store reminds me very much of one I used to go to in New Jersey, near the house we now have. I cannot remember the name but was a true old fashioned stationary store and carried not only cards and assorted writing materials, but the more esoteric things a stationary store carried before the internet, such as form contracts like leases, which is what my mother used to go there for. It was long and narrow with windows all along one side. There were similar blond cabinets and perhaps more of a dusty business-like feel but something about this card nags at my brain with that memory. It is sadly now a Dunkin’ Donuts, just a few feet from the post office and grocery store we walk to frequently.

So there you have it – the postcard show and our first edition of the acquisitions.

Love-ly Lamp

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: I think Pictorama readers know by now that I am very susceptible to stumbling on something while scrolling through the internet, eBay and Instagram in particular. I see a heck of a lot and, if you think of it in proportion to what I see I inquire about a small amount and purchase and even smaller amount – although it does pile up. Anyway, this lamp popped out at me while casually strolling through Instagram and I went so far as to purchase it for the house in Jersey. It came to us via Mike Zohn @obscuraantiques whose antique store on the we used to visit on the Lower Eastside before his relocation to points south of here.

Pictorama readers might also remember that I have a soft spot for lamps and have posted about a number of them purchased for the house here and a few for the apartment in New York. (I was thinking about this the other day and remembering that for my father it was clocks and chairs. Man, my father would go way out of his way if he thought an antique clock might be in the offing. When he was a bit younger he was also that way about antique chairs – I grew up with an extraordinary number of chairs in the house – many were Shaker in origin. We could have seated small concerts or film viewing. They were like cat nip to him. Meanwhile, some of those past lamp posts can be found here and here.)

Somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking that this lamp would look nice and be useful in our bathroom – I am not a huge fan of the overhead light. I was assured that it had been rewired and all I would need is a shade and the hardware for the shade however when it arrived the thingy where the bulb goes looked awfully gnawed away. It took a number of months before I could get it to the hardware store here which is a splendid place to get work done on lamps.

Fair Haven hardware is one of those rare thriving businesses that manages to look (and smell) both contemporary while remaining steeped in its longstanding past. Fair Haven Hardware is 72 years young this year and while it was sold by the son of the original owner to a employee a few years ago, he’s pledged to keep it going for the next 70 years. (I recently got on my elevator in Manhattan and was talking to a neighbor who used to have a home down here, when she talked about selling she said the thing she’d miss most was this great hardware store in Fair Haven!) Their 70th anniversary banner still hangs on the front of the shop.

Kim and I were trying to analyze what the smell is. It is reminiscent of an aging Woolworth’s or ancient five and dime of that variety with perhaps a bit more fertilizer and grass seed thrown in. You might say dust but it isn’t dusty, nor is it dark, quite well lit really.

Anyway, they replaced the bit that holds the bulb and now I just need the hardware for the shade and a shade. While it isn’t exactly light, it is not as heavy as it might look. It’s sort of a dotty design and the ageing patina improves its appearance I think. I continue to think it might have a place in the bathroom. (Although I recently purchased a night light for it and it seems a tad less pressing than it did.)

Buying a shade for a lamp online is a bit difficult and this has prevented me from purchasing one for Popeye as well. You have a desire to see how various shades look. I need to find a local store where I can take them and pop a few on, like trying on hats. Or I can gird my loins, order online and take my chances. I’ll let you know what I decide.

Pussy Cat Portrait

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This is a bit of a hold the presses Pictorama post. This arrived from Great Britain yesterday as I write and I ADORE it. Now I understand that some of you think I may have really gone dotty at long last. I admit that paintings have been a bit out of my purchasing purview (and buying them online seems really dubious), but I saw this one in an auction preview and was indeed interested. I ended up coming late to the auction and I was sure it had been snatched up however miraculously it had not and it was reasonably price. Mine, mine, mine!

It has taken a few long weeks to arrive at our shores and was dropped off on our doorstep here in NJ while we ate dinner last night. I was showing a friend out and there it was. Oh bliss!

The painting came to me from a new friend who sold me the cat match striker and the lovely green cat face dish. (For those posts with items from @oldstockantiques have a look here and here.) Eventually tariffs on antiques from abroad are going to come for me but I have been purchasing unbidden meanwhile. Or I’ll just go broke!

Anyway, it isn’t too large, about 8″x 8” (unframed) and surprisingly the cat is white rather than my generally preferred black. He (or she) is a little fluffball of a kitty, perhaps just out of kittenhood. There is just something pleasantly insane and maniacal in the cat’s eyes. Between that and the somewhat electrified look of the fur there is, for me, a slightly Louis Wain-ish look of influence about it. It appears to be an oil painting

There are a few bits of damage to the surface (rather charmingly under the circumstances, there is a cat hair or two stuck to it) and it is painted on an inexpensive bit of prepared board with a small hook at the top for hanging. I didn’t see it at first but it says Angela 1977. Whoever Angela was she did a splendid job and I wouldn’t mind finding the thrift store where more of her work is for sale. (That is fantasy worthy.)

I need to go wandering around the house to see where it is going to live, some place where I will get to see it frequently when I am here however!

Holding

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today is white cat rather than black cat day here at Pictorama. This acquisition was made at the Red Bank Antiques Annex (a favorite haunt of our Jersey summer days) earlier this month. He (she?) is a doorstop it would appear. I found him in a display case of Halloween items and originally thought he was a decoration.

Back of doorstop.

He is rather perfectly aged in my opinion. His white faded to a brownish gray but pink mouth, painted whiskers and greenish eyes are still visible. You can make out his tail wrapped around his feet. The paint on the hard surface has cracked and crazed. He’s about nine inches high.

He is heavy but not as heavy as a doorstop would likely be. I think his super power is in that he is composed of some kind of heavy rubber. The barely still visible label on the back reads Kleistone Rubber and I cannot read the rest. Evidently the company operated out of Rhode Island in the first half of the 20th century with cast figures such as this – and for the record it seems this could be a doorstop or bookend which is something I was trying to figure out. Although the few I found online were black and identified as doorstops.

Ship doorstop, not in Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.

Evidently other options would have included a scotty dog or a pirate ship according to AI. I show the scotty and a black cat below.

Scotty and black version of cat. Not in Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.

I paid up for this fellow and had left him for further consideration the first time I saw him. However on a second trip I knew he was going home with me.

He will live here in New Jersey in the House of Cats and already has a nice spot under these geraniums (meant for outside but so happy in the house I have kept them here) poking out from their leaves.

A Sprightly Black Cat

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: For those of you who read yesterday’s post, you know that this little kitty came to me from Great Britain via an Instagram post where I spotted him in a flea market display. It was the first time I purchased something from @woodenhillstoys via Instagram, but I deeply suspect not the last. He caught my eye at the same time as the Louis Wain doily (yesterday’s post), on a shelf on the same table.

This kitty is tiny, only about four inches from his nose to his curled up tail. He is velvet and sports a ratty ribbon, the same yellowish color as the velvet on his tummy. A red nose and mouth are a stitched star between glass ears with rounded ears. Still, it is his sort of splayed leg stance, arched back and curled tail that catch your eye and give him his cat-titude. A tiny hole in the tip of his tail reveals a bit of straw stuffing. He is a prime example of less is more.

A closer look at this little addition.

Meanwhile, in the process of the sale, the seller Steven Phillips (@woodenhilltoys) shared a rather extraordinary piece he recently acquired for his own collection. For those of you who are regular Pictorama readers you may remember several posts devoted to animal imitators – dogs and, of course, cats. (Some of those prior Pictorama posts can be found here, here and here.) While I wouldn’t say that the Brits owned this occupation, they are definitely in competition with the us in this narrow area of expertise and this is a grand example.

Steven Phillips cat impersonator poster.

I just about fell over! Shown here in a glorious poster size in his cat suit with a small image of him, sans suit up in the corner. I pulled this off of Instagram where he direct messaged it to me. I love that he has himself perched on this illustration of a rooftop with neatly tended fields in the distance. The cat costume is notably comical. A note in the corner says, Elite Photo Co., Glasgow, Scotland.

A wowza of weirdness in this close-up.

A Google Image search tells me that this gent in his cat suit was in ads for Black Cat Cigarettes and I have grabbed a few images shown here. (One is a Getty Image with its watermark.) I cannot seem to get the name of the performer in question. Clearly he is a rather inspired imitator and his devotion did not go unrecognized.

Black Cat Cigarettes, it goes almost without saying, had a long and storied series of ad campaigns featuring black cats – both real, drawn and clearly imitated as well. (For a post highlighting a notable item of their advertising in my collection have a read here.)

Black Cat Cigarette ad I found online. I love the two mugs who are driving!

Oddly this came up the first time I put it in Google Images but not subsequently. AI had all sorts of weird answers for me when asked!

So a real hats off to Steven Phillips (and my thanks for allowing me to share the images) for a real hotsy totsy find! I have a feeling this won’t be the last we hear about the lore of this particular cat impersonator and we at Pictorama will be looking.

Hamlet Castle Wain

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: I have opined on my devotion to Instagram. While I understand the downsides for many folks, having programmed my feed to be a fairly delightful walk through antique toys, cats (toy cats of course), antique jewelry, and vintage clothing (a shout out to @katestrasdin who I always enjoy – and I never stop being fascinated to what happened to silhouettes in the 1850’s!) generally makes me happy. I have written about it, intertwined with posts about my purchases. I am a rare 100% fan.

The secret may be that, although I will occasionally pause to look at Isabella Rossellini’s pigs, I generally do not follow celebrities and I do my best to avoid all political discourse. Of course I look at cats and watch cat videos. The biggest problem (or advantage, depending on how you look at it) is that I buy things. I buy jewelry (you can see a post about that here) and disparate bits and bobs. The Midwest and the South of the US tend to feed this habit – and of course England, the spiritual home of the early Felix and, like today’s acquisition, Louis Wain. (Several Wain posts exist! A few are here, here and here.)

It probably won’t surprise many of my readers to know that I am crazy enough that while scrolling through Instagram I will pause and happily look as closely as I can at tables packed with wares at far off flea markets. This is usually on my phone and therefore takes a certain kind of skill, gently expanding the image to see bits better.

This is a photo Steven Phillips sent me after I asked about the doily while still on the table.

This has actually resulted in purchases but the other day was an exception. This gentleman (@woodenhilltoys) in Britain had two items I decided I wanted if they made it through the day at the flea market. Luckily they were not sold and this doily is the first of the two.

It is very interesting as it appears to have been made contemporaneously with Louis Wain (1920’s), in his style, but not him. Although I found one other example at auction they are not common in my experience. In a sense this surprises me – Wain stuff has long been collectible and you’d think a fair number were sold and would survive but evidently not.

As noted in the title of this post, Hamlet Castle is one sign on the wall and Rehearsal of company 12 noon the other. (The auction site lists the doily by this moniker as well.) A Wain inspired cat (Hamlet?) with a club is getting read to pop this other kit (Polonius??) with a properly maniacal look on his mug. Go cat, go!

I’m not exactly sure how or where I will choose to display this tidbit. I tend to think it will come with us to New Jersey (later this morning as you read this!) where I will find a frame for it and hang it somewhere. It is a real treat. Stay tuned for the other acquisition and a story about a rather splendid item the seller shared with me but sadly he does not wish to part with. It’s a real Pictorama piece!

It’s a Felix!

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Sometimes here at Pams’s Pictorama it’s just a Felix acquisition day and today is that day. The other day combing through listings I came across a duo of Felix in Australia. The condition was sort of medium and the price right and the next thing I knew this fellow was on his way to me.

I have a few other examples of this Felix and this fellow in particular may next find his way to New Jersey where there is a shortage of Felix-es at my house. (Although there is an abundance of kitties who have a lot of unsupervised hours so I am mindful of that as well. The younger inhabitants there like some high jumping too and I have an Oswald Rabbit I worry for occasionally. A post about him can be found here.)

Years ago I was at a huge vintage toy show in Atlantic City where a dealer had a whole basket of these (such bounty!) and he said that they were used as carnival prizes in England. They must have been very popular because many exist today but somehow they seem a bit too well made, and therefore expensive, for that. Still, it makes my brain whirl a little to think of being able to bring home such a toy from a fair – perhaps after having had my photo taken with Felix elsewhere earlier in the day. (Throwing in a photo below from my collection of folks posing with Felix for anyone who is a new comer here!)

Pam’s Pictorama.com collection.

Also a long time ago I took one of these for repairs at a toy hospital that used to exist on Lexington Avenue near Bloomingdales. I wrote about it here. It turned out to be very expensive but, at least for me, worth the brief entrée to that somewhat ancient and particular place before it quietly disappeared a few years later.

This fashion of Felix has mobile arms and legs. (Legs had come off on the one that had to be repaired. I do not recommend moving them much – I learned from the broken one that there is just a rusty metal rod holding him together.) This fellow has a good look until you realize that oddly almost all of his mohair has worn away. His tummy in particular is quite bare as is the spot under his snout. He has such wideset eyes – they always contribute to a goofy look. His tail, as is often a design feature, sets him up like a tripod for steady standing.

While his felt ears are intact, Felix has a few places where his fur is completely worn through, revealing small spots of the straw stuffing underneath. It is my understanding that these were assembled by hand in England in small factories. (Read a very interesting and popular post about this here. Such a factory was set up on the East End of London to employ indigent women.) All this to say that these end up have a very individual character and look to each one.

Tummy is oddly barren. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.

I did express some concern about Felix making such a long journey from Australia to New York City with the small holes and stuffing in particular leaking through. I am afraid I offended the poor seller when I asked – it wasn’t meant to be a reflection on her packing ability – more just the reality of a certain amount of jostling he was bound to undergo. However, she pledged extra good packing and she came through so there was barely a smidge of stuffing loss in transit.

We will pack him carefully again as part of our exodus to New Jersey in a few weeks. Until then he is hanging out with his Felix brethren here in Deitch Studio.

The Cat’s Party

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: So today I take us back to the world of cat ephemera with a bang today. This little treasure came to me via a new dealer who I imagine I may see a lot of, Eldritch Oculum Antiques. (The website can be found here although I found them on IG as @eldritch_oculum_antiquarian.)

Our story unfolds, as it sometimes does, with an item someone (I believe it is my IG friend and gad about @fatfink) gave me a heads up about but had quickly sold. This was a photo of someone in a Felix costume that I would have loved to have scored for my collection – not least because I appear to own other photos from the same session!

Longstanding readers may remember a very early and popular post of these tiny photos I featured in the early days of this blog. I seem to have bought a few and then found more from a different dealer. When I told the story to the folks at Oculum I misstated that they came from Seattle but I just read my own post and it says that the came from Portland, OR – right where these folks are located. Portland seems to be an odd El Dorado of early Felix photos and I have that post and a few others devoted to this which can be found here, here and here!

Not in Pams-Pictorama.com Collection – sadly!
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection

However, this was clearly an account I wanted to follow! It wasn’t a month later when I spied this gem and snatched it right up. This is an unusual piece and further nascent searching on the internet only turned up two other editions of the Merriment Series, and sister Lady-Bird’s Series. One edition I did find, shown below, devoted to Funny Stories, and the other on the Internet Archives (see my Rosa Mulholland post of last week!) which is a scan of The Alphabet of Flowers and Fruit.

It was published by Dean & Son, Printers, Lithographers, and Book and Print Publishers, 31, Ludgate-Hill. This company, founded in 1800, became known for children’s pop-up books in the latter part of that century. They are noted for publishing into the mid-20th century but it is unclear to me if they exist today.

From the Ontario Digital Archive.

So, to get to the heart of the matter, this little missive is the tale of a party in Cat-o-Land, where cats rule and dog servants in livery are footmen and butlers. (Although the monkey playing the drum on the cover is notable as well. A careful look at the top shows one half of the orchestra as monkeys and tthe others as cats – one with his bow in the air and dropping his fiddle.) This is a jolly affair hosted by Mister Peter Pussiana.

It is written entirely in rhyme – …While all around esteemed them most polite, (for cats, like Christians, may know what is right/So, of grimalkins they were thought the best, – Quite models of good breeding for the rest… No author claims credit. Printed oddly, a pamphlet (9.4″x 7.4″), it has blank pages inserted throughout – something having to do with the printing? It is in fair condition, with the binding still tight but worn with dirt and folding and cuts or tears on some pages.

Fainting after hearing a bit of gossip scandal. I like the art!

While the cover is without color (although the first page is the cover with color), the rest of the illustrations are in a sort of limited color, looking applied on in subsequent layers. The backcover has a rather tantalizing list of other titles in the series that were available. Every thing from The Toy Grammar; or Learning without Labour to Mouse in a Christmas Cake. There is no publication date.

The tale takes us thoroughly through the evening and its entertainments – from dancing and eating to playing cards and gossiping. (Some scandal so salacious that Miss White-coat actually faints!) One of my favorite pages is the company around a large table eating, kittens lurking behind chairs, family portraits on the walls and a dog serving.

I share it with you in its entirety below to flip through – blank pages deleted. Pay special attention to the art on the walls and sculptures!

A Striking Cat

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This is a pretty odd piece I purchased recently from a dealer in Britain via Instagram. (See last week’s post which can be found here for the other piece I purchased at the same sale, @oldstockantiques or www.oldstockantiques.co.uk.) It was listed as a match striker.

This auction went sort of fast and furious (and also very slow in another way which I expounded on last week) without much chance to really study each object. I mean you could look at it or buy it but not really both because it would be gone by the time you looked at it – or so it seemed.

Not to say I wouldn’t have purchased this little fellow either way. I like him and he gave the cats a bit of a fright this morning with his miniature arched back silhouette while I was carrying it around. First Blackie raised an eyebrow but Cookie had a full on stare down and sniff fest with it. We never got to an all out hiss though. With all the black cat objects in the house few are close enough to cat size and in the war making position to attract their ire.

And the back. Look at this little slab of marble!

Anyway, there are some disparate aspects to this little fellow. His overall weight and marble stand make me think of something I would have found in my grandmother’s house. She had many little jade ashtrays and pin dishes (no one smoked) on marble stands like this. Sadly I have none to share as my mom wasn’t a huge fan of ashtrays.

In the lower right corner (ours, not his) is a little groove I assume is for actually striking a match – I could use this as I am the person who always burns themselves when I strike a match!

The match striking spot.

He (she?) is a solid cast iron and as mentioned above, even marble aside, is weighty. The fur is nicely delineated and a careful look reveal tiny teeth in the open (hissing) mouth. There is that nice big red bow. He stands on toe defined feet. The paint is a bit chipped but overall in good condition.

They are only glowing red because they are reflecting the cover on my phone! Still, I like the effect.

There are two unexpectedly odd aspects to this piece. The first are the rhinestone eyes! I assume they are original and I can imagine that they would flash a bit in the light but there is something utterly unexpected about them. They do glint and glitter.

Odd hole – to hold matches?

The other thing is the strange hole showed in the top. Did people drop the matches in there? Or maybe it just held a few? Not like it could have held a lot of them. There is not evidence that there was ever anything additional that went in that opening. I am somewhat stymied.

C & B in the sun this morning. The fake cat forgotton.

However, this item seems like an ideal denizen of the Pam’s Pictorama Collection here at Deitch Studio and I’m pleased it transversed the Atlantic to rest here.

Townsend & Co., Newcastle

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This was part of a much anticipated Instagram online auction that occurred last weekend. It was via a British dealer, @oldstockantiques, who had recently purchased a collection of cat related items belonging to a woman in her 90’s. (It wasn’t clear if this was an estate sale or just her divesting.)

So, after calculating the time difference, I set myself up with multiple devices for bidding. The terms of the auction required that you message the dealer for each item as it went up and this meant that I spent about an hour and 45 minutes to get through the listing of a dozen items or less. Even with my multiple devices and refreshing my feed constantly I have to report that I lost many more times than won. I can’t figure out if somehow my internet connection to England took longer or if my internet in general a tad slower than someone else’s because I will moving as fast as I could. (I’m sure you can imagine, knowing of my profound dedication to the Pictorama collection, my extraordinary frustration. However, @oldstockantiques remained patient with me and a shout out to him!)

The one that got away! Victorian cat mirror.
Detail.

Nonetheless, I purchased one item (future post) and then at the end of the auction asked if there was anything unsold and I threw this lovely green cat pin dish in for good measure. Above I have shared a Victorian cat mirror that got away – alas! My bank account is happy but I am very sad.

Perhaps this little fellow didn’t sell because he has a large repair down his middle. There is nothing further to identify or edify on the back, although there are three small feet to secure it on a surface. The repair does not especially bother me and the green color is absolutely seductive. However, one of the most interesting things is that I posted about very similar dishes, cast in metal, in one of my nascent blog posts back in 2014 which can be found here. Those were purchased for a freakishly minimal amount on eBay while wandering through cat advertising items and reside on my dresser, bulging with rings, today.

Identified on the back as Corbin Lock Company, Canada. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.

While the metal duo are advertising Canadian Corbin Locks (the name is on the back), this little fellow belongs on the other side of the ocean where he boasted the virtue of Townsend & Co., New Castle. It took me a bit of time to sort through a number of companies and options before landing on Townsend & Co. Newcastle-on-Tyne, makers of fine china at the end of the 19th and into the early 20th century. (While references to it abound around items being sold, no history of the company is readily available.) I cannot be sure and I do not find another dish like this one, at least not attributable to them. (I haven’t found one advertising for anything of this vintage or precise style.) Feel free to poke holes in my theory!

Townsend & Co. did make advertising pin dishes like this one and Google tells me notably made them for a 1929 North East Coast Industries Exhibition in conjunction with a company called Mailing. The trail goes a bit cold at that point.

On sale at Etsy at the time of posting. This one has rhinestone eyes!

Meanwhile, there is now a fascination for me in the question of this mold. In casting around on the internet I saw it referred to as an old French mold, although I have yet to see specific evidence of that myself. I have seen the old metal ones both with other advertising and without any advertising – sometimes billed as ashtrays like the one on Etsy here. They are not identical – there is a slight morph – but surprisingly similar.

Below is an example of a similar mold in use by a Japanese ceramist currently. The persistence of the image is amazing across probably at least 100 years.

Contemporary, Japanese made version.

I believe this one is heading to New Jersey where it will likely reside in the bedroom or bathroom there. It’s cheerful green color and timeless kitty face will fit right in. And who knows where this cat will turn up next.