The breed gallery
Birman
The Birman — the Sacred Cat of Burma — carries its legend in its name: temple cats from Burma said to owe their white paws to a miracle. The history of the breed is more prosaic and French, but the serenity is real.
At the workbench the Birman is the stillest sitter of all: blue eyes, soft markings and four spotless white gloves.
- Origin
- shaped as a breed in France, the 1920s; the legend from Burma
- Coat
- semi-long and silken with little undercoat; points with white “gloves”
- Eyes
- blue
- Weight
- roughly 4 to 6 kilos
- Life expectancy
- roughly 13 to 15 years
Character
The Birman holds the middle ground between the affection of a Siamese and the calm of a Persian — gentle, soft-spoken and fond of company, without ever being insistent. The breed follows its people at half a metre’s distance, like a court of one.
With children and other animals it generally gets along effortlessly; loud households and long loneliness do not suit this breed.
Appearance and coat
The pale body carries dark points, but the four legs end in white gloves — rising on the hind legs to a white point, the “laces”. That combination with the blue eyes gives the breed its solemn, almost formal aspect.
A Birman comes into the world with its gloves on; dressed for the vernissage.
The semi-long coat has little undercoat and so hardly tangles — silk without a maintenance contract.
Care
One to two brushings a week suffice. The Birman is otherwise an easy housemate that asks above all for regularity and company.
History
According to legend, the paws of the temple cat Sinh turned white as he watched over his dying priest. What is demonstrable is that the breed was built up in 1920s France and, after the war — with only a handful of animals remaining — was saved once again.
The portrait
Your Birman as an art portrait
The Birman calls for mother-of-pearl and quiet: soft styles that let the blue eyes and the white gloves speak. Photograph in calm daylight; the solemnity need not be staged.
white gloves — the breed already holds the office
pearlescent light for blue eyes and a silken coat