3-061-463 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A peculiar species of the domestic Cat, 1793, (1812). 'The upper part of the engraving exhibits the coat of arms belonging to the town and district of Mokshan, with the two battle-axes of the Mordvines. The form of this cat, and particularly the nature and colour of the hair, exhibited so extraordinary an appearance, that I was induced to give a representation of it...The colour of the body is a light chesnut brown like that of the pole-cat, but blacker on the back, especially towards the tail, and paler along the sides and belly. The throat is whiter, and the female has a white spot on the lower part of the neck. A black streak runs along the nose, surrounds the eyes, and ends in a point on the forehead. The ears, paws, and tail are quite black...The exquisite olfactory sense, agility, and other characteristics of these three animals, are similar to those of the common cat. But they had been extremely wild at first, hid themselves in cellars, and holes, nay even burrowed under ground, and had not yet acquired the sociable qualities of our domesticated cats'. Page 81 of "Travels through the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire in 1793 and 1794. Translated from the German [by F. W. Blagdon] . MS. notes", 1812. [London, England]