The breed gallery
Persian
The Persian cat has for centuries been the very image of feline opulence: a cloud of coat around a calm, friendly animal that seems almost to have forgotten haste as a concept. Long-haired cats from Persia and Asia Minor reached Europe as early as the seventeenth century.
For a portraitist the Persian is what brocade is to a painter: all fabric, light and fold.
- Origin
- Persia and Asia Minor; in Europe since the 17th century
- Coat
- very long and full, with a dense undercoat — in almost every colour
- Weight
- roughly 3.5 to 6 kilos
- Life expectancy
- roughly 12 to 17 years
- Character
- calm, gentle, homely — a cat of rooms, not of rooftops
Character
The Persian is calm itself: a soft, even-tempered housemate that tolerates bustle but does not seek it, and that shows its affection simply by being in the same room. Play she will — briefly, gracefully and on her own initiative.
The breed thrives indoors and asks for no adventure; it asks for a fixed place, a fixed rhythm and an owner with a brush.
Appearance and coat
No breed carries more coat: long, dense and with a full undercoat that makes the animal look twice as large as it is. The range of colours is all but unlimited — from solid white, black or blue to tabby, tortoiseshell and colourpoint.
With a Persian one paints not a cat but light falling into fur.
The head is round with large, round eyes and a short nose; in responsible breeding that nose stays free enough for healthy breathing — a point to watch when acquiring one.
Care
With this breed, daily brushing and combing is not advice but a condition: the undercoat otherwise mats within days. The eyes too ask for attention; in many Persians they water and the coat beneath tends to discolour.
History
The Italian traveller Pietro della Valle brought the first long-haired cats from Persia to Europe in the seventeenth century, where they made a sensation at court. At the London show of 1871 the Persian was already a principal class, and that has never really changed.
The portrait
Your Persian cat as an art portrait
Opulence calls for opulence: golden glow, velvet and the rendering of fabric of the old masters. A photograph in calm daylight, the coat freshly brushed, gives the atelier everything brocade requires.
golden opulence for the most luxuriant coat
velvet beside velvet — fabric against fabric