The breed gallery
British Shorthair
The British Shorthair is the composed Briton among the breeds: round of head, dense of coat and imperturbable of temper. The breed descends from the cats that travelled with the Romans and caught mice on the British Isles for centuries.
At the workbench this is the breed of quiet strength: a British Shorthair regards the portraitist the way a museum attendant regards a visitor — kindly, but with authority.
- Origin
- United Kingdom — standardised in the 19th century
- Coat
- short, very dense and springy (“plush”); classically blue, also white, brown and tabby
- Weight
- males often 5 to 8 kilos; females lighter
- Life expectancy
- roughly 14 to 20 years — one of the longest-lived breeds
- Character
- calm, even-tempered, independent — company without clinginess
Character
The British Shorthair is affectionate on its own terms: rather beside you than on your lap, rather in the same room than on the same chair. That independence makes the breed beloved among those who work; it manages a day alone perfectly well.
It rarely grows agitated. A British Shorthair does not run to the door, it arrives at it — and once you see the difference, you see it always.
Appearance and coat
The coat is the wonder of this breed: so dense that it stands upright and parts like plush at every movement. The classic blue — an even grey-blue coat with copper to orange eyes — is world-famous, but the brown, white and tabby British Shorthairs are in no way its lesser.
With this breed grey is not a colour but a material.
The head is round, the cheeks full and the eyes large and roundly set — a face that looks grave by nature and portrays all the better for it.
Care
A weekly brushing suffices outside the moult. More important is the scales: the breed is built for ease and grows heavy with ease. Feed in moderation and play daily — even a composed Briton enjoys five minutes of the hunt.
History
At the world’s first great cat show — Crystal Palace, London, 1871 — the British Shorthair already stood on the podium. The breed was standardised in the 19th century from the best British street and farm cats and has since been regarded as the British breed.
The portrait
Your British Shorthair as an art portrait
The round head and the grave gaze make the British Shorthair the most classical sitter the atelier knows: the breed seems designed for the painted portrait. A calm photograph with daylight on the eyes is enough — the dignity is already there.
the composed gaze gets the study it deserves
a classical museum portrait for the most classical face among the breeds