The Favorite Cat

Domesticated cats have long been beloved as pets, in addition to being useful hunters of mice and rats daring to enter homes and workplaces. Since ancient Egypt, cats have also been depicted in art. Pictures of religious scenes, representations of daily life, and family portraits have included cats as minor details. Yet rarely, until the nineteenth century, were cats a featured subject without humans. Here, this print boldly presents a half-length, frontal view of a healthy, gray tabby cat staring directly at the viewer. Indeed, the print's title, "The Favorite Cat," suggests it is a pet portrait. What prompted Nathaniel Currier to produce this feline lithograph for sale in his New York print shop when he did? Who owned this particular cat? Was this cat a champion mouser in the Currier print shop or a household companion? Today, this charming lithograph still appeals to countless cat lovers.

Currier, and later Currier & Ives, created more than forty prints featuring cats, most being humorous or sentimental representations done in the 1870s. People often acquired these later prints to decorate children's bedrooms or nurseries.

Nathaniel Currier, who launched his successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, went on to produce thousands of prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, horses and horse racing, hunting and fishing scenes, portraits, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.