Cat nightlights seem to have been made since the late Ming period. A blue and white example from the first salvaged Hatcher cargo, dating to the Transitional Period, was sold Christie's, Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, lot 279 (and cover of the catalogue.)

The Jesuit priest Père D'Entrecolles wrote from Jingdezhen in 1712 that "I have seen a cat painted after life, in the head of which a little lamp was put to illuminate the eyes, and was assured that in the night the rats were terrified by it".