Information on 'Cats of the Year'-U.K.
Resinfo
The Chinese lunar year which is almost over, is the Year of the Dog.
Not surprisingly, many countries have been jumping on the band wagon
with sets of stamps, featuring various breeds of dogs. Sadly, there
is no Year of the Cat in the Chinese zodiacal cycle, but Royal Mail
are making up for this by offering the public a hansome set of five
cat stamps on January 17.1995.
According to a marketing survey, some 5.6 million households in
Britain keep dogs, compared with 4.8 million with cats. There is a
general feeling that the Post Office has tended to favour the former,
having issued an attractive set of dog stamps in 1979 and, more
recently, reproduced dog paintings by George Stubbs, on a set of five
stamps in 1991.
Actually, cat-lovers have not been left in the cold by any means. The
Cheshire Cat was featured on a stamp of 1979 with Alice in Wonderland,
and then appeared on one of the 20p Smiles stamps of 1990, repeated as
a first class stamp later. That other fictional feline, Orlando and
Marmalade Cat, was shown writing a letter on one of the greetings
stamps issued last February, and his paw-marks were reproduced on a
greetings label that accompanied the stamps.
One of the many literary cat-lovers was Edward Lear, so it was
appropriate that the stamps marking the centenary of his death in 1988
should include the cat from this alphabet book, as well as the pussy-cat
who went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat. Both of them also
appeared in a miniature sheet.
Then there was the pantomine cat on the top of the 1985 Christmas stamps,
while a black and white cat could be found sitting on the chimney, on
the 16p Christmas stamp of 1983.
The black cat as a symbol of good luck appears on no fewer than four of
the greetings stamps of 1991. To be sure, only one of these stamps
takes the cat as its principal subject, but the stamp featured a mallard
and a frog has a tiny leaping cat in the background, while the stamp
featuring a lucky boot and a four-leafed clover also showed a matchbox
with a black cat on the label. The last stamp of the set, featuring a
wishing well and sixpence, has a tiny black cat peeping over the knoll.
It is sort of attention to detail which appeals to stamp-collectors,
who would also have noticed the cat arching its back, in the corner of
the fairground scene, on a 31p stamp of 1983.
Nor should we forget the wistful kitten portrayed on the 20p stamp of
1990, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the RSPCA.
For Royal Mail's new cat stamps, it would have been a relatively simple
matter merely to select a few nice colour photographs of pedigree breeds.
Instead, Royal Mail commissioned Elizabeth Blackadder, one of Scotland's
leading artists and a renowned specialist in feline portratiture, to
provide a series of pastels and watercolours. The result is a set of
miniature works of art, admirably conveying the endearing and enchanting
qualities of the animals, playing, sleeping and getting up to mischief.
Rather than concentrate on pedigree animals, this set is particularly
appealing for its choice of ordinary moggies. What gives these stamps
added interest is the fact that they depict real cats on British stamps;
but just as a cat may look at a Queen, so too, it seems; a cat may look
at the Queen on a postage stamp.
Actually, the cat shown on the 19p stamp does not defy this convention,
for, sadly, she died at the grand old age of twelve. This beautiful
black cat was called Sophie, and she was named by Elizabeth Blackadder
after Sophia Loren because she was such an elegant creature. Her grace
and poise came across clearly on the stamp where she is depicted
alongside lilies [flower-painting being one of Elizabeth's specialities].
The stamp prepaying the first class domestic rate shows a Siamese and a
rather nonchalant tabby. The latter is a neighbour's cat called Tigger,
but the Siamese was christened by Elizabeth's husband who names him
Puskas, after the Hungarian footballer.
Another neighbour's cat is Chloe, stalking on the 30p stamp, unusual is
that she is a ginger female. The Tortoiseshell and the Abyssinian
circling each other warily on the 35p stamp are two of Elizabeth's cats.
Kikko, the five-year-old Tortoiseshell, came from a farm near Thornhill
in Dumfriesshire (Scotland). Rosie, the Abyssinian [a breed not noted
for longevity], has attained the venerable ago of 14.
Lastly, there is a handsome, debonaire black and white fellow taking his
ease on a wicker chair. This is three-year-old Fred, named after Fred
Astaire in white tie and tails. Elizabeth admits that Fred isn't always
as serene as he appears on the stamps, his favourite pastime is chasing
Rosie, a sedate old lady who doesn't always take too kindly to his lively
antics. Cats are notorious for their likes and dislikes and Elizabeth's
cats are no exception. Kikko ansd Rosie love prawns and haddocks, but
Fred is rather partial to chicken with garlic and herbs. Some of
Elizabeth's previous cats have been partial to such exotic things as
avocado pears and potato crisps.
Elizabeth Blackadder, from Falkirk (Scotland), trained at the Edinburgh
College of Art and Edinburgh University, and later taught painting and
drawing at the Edinburgh College. Her husband John Houston, is a noted
painter of landscapes and seascapes, but he, too, loves to paint cats.
Elizabeth is an extremely versatile artist and her work ranges from
portraits and landscapes in oils, to watercolours and pastels of flowers
and cats.
Elizabeth was made an Officer of the British Empire in 1982 and was the
first woman to become an academician of both The Royal Scottish Academy
and The Royal Academy. She has exhibited at the Royal Acasemy for 30
years, and one of her watercolours of Fred and Rosie amid orchids recently
won a top award. Painting by Fred, Rosie and Kikko and Fred on his own,
examining an orchid, were included in the Summer Exhibition of 1992.
Elizabeth's paintings are offered for sale through the Mercury Gallery
in London, Aitken Dott in Edinburgh and the Glasgow Print Studio.
Readers of this press release may also be interested to hear that
Royal Mail has complimented this stamp issue with mugs, T-shirts, plates
and other articles bearing similar designs. These articles are
available from their Philatelic Bureau in Edinburgh.
This information comes courtesy of Resinfo in the U.K.
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