Wonderfully strange! I have searched and searched and found no others like these out there, which I am sure are Victorian era, and I might think fairly early at that. I have to think these were part of a card game, perhaps a bit like rummy, where one would draw and discard, seeking to amass a complete cat! A few lucky cards combine two parts -- head + tail, or a pair of front or hind paws rather than just one--and there are a couple of blank ones too. Plus a number of Mews, which maybe granted an extra draw, or perhaps a skip. At any rate, pretty fantastic looking I think (I find the nose and eyes and tails cards pretty surreal!) and surely one could invent lots of things to do with them now, including perhaps framing up a sequence to form a complete cat.
Cards measure 2 5/8" x 1 7/8". Overall very good condition, no tears, but a few light creases, smudges and toning here and there. Backs are blanks.
