Quite a cat, hand-sewn of oil cloth I think at least a hundred years ago, and surely one of a kind. The terrific pink, heart-shaped stitched on nose and mouth are sewn on with the same loop-type stitching as used to hold the cat together, and then these fantastic hanging whiskers on either side, some still tipped in yellow paint. Plus red linen trousers held up with buttoned straps. The green sparkly center of one of the beaded eyes is gone and he is well worn all over, but well loved he certainly should be at this point!
Oilcloth (also known as American cloth) was traditionally made through a fairly labor-intensive process of treating close-woven cotton or linen cloth (I believe this is linen) with a coating of boiled linseed oil to make it waterproof. I have not been able to find out for sure when or where the tradition of using oil cloth for dolls began, but I've found a handful of black cats (and a couple of white ones) in a similar vein to this one dating from between the 1880s and 1930s or so.
9" tall x 9 1/4" across at arms; 1 1/2" thick. Worn but not fragile, with none of the stitching coming apart at all that I can see.
You might also like
