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Lot Essay
Cats were clearly part of domestic Chinese life from early times, and, like dogs, seem to have been as beloved in 18th century China as in the West. Cats are found in export ceramics first as nightlights, such as the Transitional period blue and white example found in the first Hatcher cargo (sold Christie's, Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, lot 279 and the cover of the catalogue.) Cats are seen in 18th century blanc-de-chine and in figure groups like lot 121 in this sale; later examples include a black and white spotted cat in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (W.R. Sargent, The Copeland Collection, Salem, 1991, p. 236) and in the James E. Sowell collection (M. Cohen and W. Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie, Surrey, 2008, p. 158.) Never becoming the standard models that puppies did, cats seem to have been more one-off production. This example shows "pawprint" markings much like those found on some Qianlong period porcelain puppies