This the first book to be published devoted exclusively to porcelain cats produced in this country during the 19th century. As such it answers many questions which the frustrated collector encounters in this neglected but popular field.
Cats were turned out by most of the principal porcelain factories operating during the period, including Rockingham, Derby,Chamberlain Worcester, Grainger Lee,Worcester,Minton and Copeland & Garrett, as well as by factories so far unidentified, of which little is known except that they were located somewhere in Staffordshire.
I am much indebted to Christie's, Phillips and Sotheby's for their generous provision of photographs of cats, which have, over the years, passed through their salerooms,and for permission to reproduce them and quote from their sale catalogues. I am also indebted to those dealers and collectors who have kindly made photographs available to me and whose names appear in the captions beneath the relevant illustrations, and to the Norwich Castle for its informative leaflet on the contents of Mrs. Langton's Cat Collection.
I must also express my appreciation to Mrs. Delia Napier, Mr. Robin Blackwood and Mr. Gordon Clark for having brought to my attention the various discoveries they have made in the course of their extensive collecting. I am also grateful to Ms. Pauline Flick for her identification of the Rockingham cat and kittens group model No 107 and the Staffordshire cat and kittens group of Colour Plate 73 with drawings by Gottfried Mind on which they were respectively based, and to Mr. Anton Gabszewicz for informing me from time to time of various forthcoming auction sales of items relevant to this book.
My acknowledgements would not, however, be complete without my recording the help and general encouragement in writing this book that I have received from my wife, to whom the subject matter has always presented a particular appeal.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Decoration
Cat Models and their Factories of Origin
Rockingham
Derby
Chamberlain Worcester
Grainger Lee & Co.
Royal Worcester
minton
Copeland & Garrett
Coalport
Charles Bourne
Samuel Alcock
Lloyd Shelton
Dudson
Unidentified Staffordshire Factories
Buyers and Sellers
Appendices
References
Bibliography
Index
