Everybody is aware of the “big cat” gems, which are represented by the Cartier panther. I am here to discuss jewelry that draws inspiration from the garden-variety domestic shorthair that roams the jungle that is our living rooms.
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There have been diamond dog collars for $3.2 million, but what about cat collars? Such graceful beings. There has to be some intense jewelry out there for them, right? Not in that way. There are some adorable “non-precious” trinkets that cat owners would find difficult to pass up. The felines themselves? Alright.
Unlike dogs, cats are not publicly “shown.” Perhaps since cats are more of a personal hobby, there aren’t many eye-catching accessories made just for them. On Etsy, there are a few reasonably priced faux-pearl cat collars and a few handcrafted ones with gemstone pendants hanging from them, but the most of them are labeled “dog” in addition to “cat.”
I might take offense at my feline companions’ lack of luxury, but I also imagine they would roll their gorgeous eyes and say, “Honey, who needs help when you look this good?” In any case, mine always objected to any effort to collar them. Both of my last two dogs were male and neither would wear a collar for very long. I have no idea how they accomplished it, but as soon as I turned around, they abandoned them. I was forced to use those cheap plastic lock-tabs, which aren’t very luxurious.
This skull necklace by TOM K on Etsy would have been amazing on Paddy. Paddy was a brawny ginger tabby that was quite the badass. He would often get into battles on the street and win over neighbors with milkshakes.
Fred would have looked better in high-karat gold—black, towering, and confined to his home. To be precise, he would have looked like the Sphinx if he had worn a tiny replica of the antique gold collar I’ve shown here. Despite Fred being a complete fool, people were constantly drawing comparisons between him and the Sphinx.
Why is it that when we see a slim cat sitting up straight in that elegant, enigmatic, uncompromising manner, our minds automatically connect it with ancient Egypt? Perhaps because Greek art is replete with stylized cats.
The cat-headed goddess Bastet, shown in this bronze statue displayed in the British Museum, was created about six centuries B.C., during the Late Period in Egypt. According to the museum catalog, Bastet’s name literally translates to “she of the ointment jar,” which captures her calming and serene demeanor.
The museum states that “Bastet was the protective aspect of the feline goddess, perhaps because the cat takes good care of its kittens.” “The goddess of destruction, Sekhmet, represents the aggressive aspect.”
That pretty about covers it, doesn’t it?
With much fanfare, the Egyptians celebrated both extremes, exemplified by the festival of Bastet, which seems like an early kind of rave culture.
The Greek historian Herodotus describes the festivities leading up to this festival as a boat parade with musicians playing instruments, singing, and applauding. This event took place about four centuries B.C. The people would go outside and dance along the riverbank, screaming out to the band as the boats got closer. The celebration itself takes place in the Bastet temple and involves “many sacrifices and copious amounts of wine consumption by the crowds that attended.”
But the cat was revered in more places than just Egypt. Ancient Chinese and Japanese artworks and gem carvings also feature the cat in a loving manner.
This month, Sotheby’s and Christie’s will be selling a selection of jade cat pendants that were carved in relief during the Qing Dynasty in the 18th and 19th centuries. Among them are a pair of cats snuggling with enormous dragonflies. Curled up on a palm fan during the Sotheby’s Asian Art auction is this cat. Another necklace with a jade cat on a plantain leaf is being offered alongside him.
According to the Sotheby’s catalog, “the cat, a symbol of longevity, and a dragonfly, represents wishes for a long life, and would have made a suitable birthday present.”
This one was auctioned at Bonhams, Oxford, in 2013 and is set as a locket on a sapphire and diamond rosary bead necklace. It shows a young woman clutching a kitten, with a diamond cuff highlighting her arm. Although the catalog doesn’t say when it was created, it appears to be Pre-Raphaelite.
It appears that American painter William Morris Hunt depicted a girl holding a cat, rather than Dante Gabriel Rossetti. This is Hunt’s 1856 painting “Girl with Cat” from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, placed next to my niece’s.
