The Siamese Cat: Origin
 (from AFAS Journal XXXVII)

 

Not much is known about the origin of the Siamese cat. There are many theories and many legends. They may have descended from a cat seen in the 1700s by Peter Simon Pallas, a German explorer and naturalist, in the area of the Caspian Sea. This cat was said to be the progeny of a black cat and had a light chesnut brown body colour, black at the back and paler along the sides and belly, with a black streak running along and surrounding the eyes ending in front of the forebead. The ears, paws and tail were black and "the head longer towards the nose" than in the case of the common cat. A picture in the book of his travels shows a cat with the Siamese coat pattern. Some say Siamese cats were bred from an albino cat given to the King of Siam and crossed with the Temple cats, which were black. But we do know that the Siamese cat must be of a very old race (this word is wrong - it should be breed) of domestic cat, with centuries of selection behind it. It is generally accepted that the Siamese cat is of Eastern origin.

When they were fist shown in England at the Crystal Palace in 1871, they were described as "an unnatural nightmare kind of cat", singular and elegant in their smooth skinsk and ears tipped with black and blue eyes with red pupils". Another writer spoke of "a couple of juveniles" resembling a pair of pug puppies"! Mivart in the Cat speaks of "remarkable blue eyes and at least thinly haired patches between the eyes and the base of the ears".

One of the first descriptions, apparently based on Harrison Weir's observation (Our Cats, 188), and containing what is almost a standard of points, is to be found in Paul Meguin's book "notre ami Le Chat" (1899). "A little smaller than our European cat, an elegant profile, low and long. Legs thin and rather short. Feet longer and less round than those of the ordinary cat. Back long and thin. Head small, broad between the eyes, narrowing between the ears. Forehead flat. Nose long and big. Cheeks getting thinner towards the mouth. Lips full and round. Ears big and large at the base, with no fur inside. Eye almond-shaped, oblique towards the nose, iris is a beautiful opal blue, with a luminous pupil which is reddish both in semi-darkness and in the light. Tail is shorter than that of the ordinary cat, thick at the root and getting thinner towards the tip. Fur short, rather woolly, soft and silky to the touch, brilliant and lustrous on the face, the legs and the tail"...

"Colour is uniform, a little darker on the back"..." Points black ears, this colour must not go behind these organs. Black mask tail and legs, The black must not go on the body nor mark it. In full health the Siamese cat should not be too fat; the coat should be soft, clear, brilliant and shining, lying flat on the body, which should also show firm and hard muscles"...

Harrison Weri also tells us that there were two kind of Siamese cat among the early imports, "the dun Siamese with "body of a dun colour, nose, part of the face, ears, feet and tail of a very dark chocolate brown, nearly black, eyes of a beautiful blue by day and of a red colour at night".. The other kind was "of a very rich chocolate or seal with darker face, ears and tail; the legs are a shade darker with intensifies towards the feet. The eyesmall, of a rich amber colour".

It is said that the Siamese cats were difficult to obtain and were only given away as a most extraordinary favour, as the King of Siam wished to keep the breed entirely in Siam as royal cats. Be that as it may, between 1884 and the end of the century, a number of Siamese were imported into England and recorded in the Registers. Mrs. L. Veley (Miss Gould), Miss Forestier-Walker and her sister, Mrs. Vyvyan, Lady Dorothy Nevill, Mrs. Lee of Penhorst and Mrs. Robinson were breeding and exhibiting Siamese cats in the 1890s. One of Lady Dorothy Nevill's queens had "three kittens by an English cat but none showed any trace of the Siamese, being all tabby"...

The early cats were regarded by some as delicate, requiring to be hardened gradually, but many proved that they could be reared successfully "if treated like common English cats and given plenty of fresh air and proper food - a meat diet and any kind of bid with the feathers on, or fowls heads and mice"...

Many of the imported cats had kinks in the tail. One pair of cats given to a friend of Miss Forestier-Walker by the King of Siam and called "palace cats" were said to be very valuable, perfect specimens, with short twisted tails. In Siam, a kinked tail was highly prized, but in England a stright tail was preferred.

The most prized was the cream-bodied cat with dark points known then at the Royal Siamese Cat, to distinguish it from the chocolate variety. But even in the "royal" variety there appeared to be two types, one rather a small, long-headed cat with glossy, close-lying coat and deep blue eyes; the other a larger cat, with a rounded head, a much thicker, longer and less close-lying coat and paler blue eyes.

In recent years, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of Siamese breeders, and, with the many new colour varieties officially accepted, far too many Seal-Point lines have become mixed. It is, perhaps, early days to pick out from the many new prefixes registered today an outstanding one, but for the most part the Seal-Points winning on the Show Bench are cats descendent from the old lines and bred Seal-Point to Seal-Point.

Other pages about the Siamese cat:

Other pages about the Oriental cat:

 


 

© Woophy's & Jadeye ©
last updated: August '99