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This has been done before in another form ... but it bears repeating for as far as jewelry goes ... the descendants of the Caffre predominate all other archetypes.
It was dead and its body was being held by its tail in the air ... suspended so that its nose barely touched the ground. The penalty invoked by the prince to the man who had killed it--reason unknown--was to blanket the creature with enough wheat to cover its body from the tip of its nose to the end of its suspended tail ... a hefty price for the poor fellow who was trying to eke out a meager existence off the land.. This direct descendant of the Caffre cat of Egypt ... our modern day tabby if you will ... had been revered and reviled through the ages.
One can not offer enough insight to the cat ... because--I believe--no other creature has been more replicated in jewelry. Think of any famous designer ... and ask yourselves if there is even one of them that has not made a piece of feline jewelry. I suspect that those of you with contrary natures will probably come up with many who have not. But that's not the point. The point is that there is truly no point ... and that I am leading you all down a primrose path in order to make the point--albeit a shaky point--that jewelers make cats. Of course ... you may all say ... hey, Benjamin ... what's the point? To which I shall respond: Good point! But I digress.
The origin of the cat may well be over 36 million years old ... but our personal relationship with it started about 5000 years ago in Egypt ... and from that moment to this very day ... the cat was here to stay. There was Felix and the Cheshire and Sylvester. There was Puss-in-Boots and Piewacket and the witches' companions. And there were surely many others whose names I can not think of at the moment. I would welcome input for my next cat-tail ... or is it cat-tale?
Fido ... who may well be our best friend and our buddy to the end ... was never and never will be as revered and idolized as was our friendly feline. To the Egyptians ... he was protected by law from injury. When our supple friend died ... he was embalmed with the finest linens the family could afford and placed in mummy cases made of precious materials.
In the Orient ... Burmese cats were kept as oracles in Burmese temples. Seers of the future ... they figured in the belief in transmigration of souls. Then there's the story of the Manx cat ... and how it lost its tail.
Warriors fighting the Irish who had invaded the Isle of Man began killing the local cats for the bushy tails ... placing said tails upon their helmets as decoration. Observing this slaughter of her kin ... a wise old she-cat climbed to the top of a high mountain to give birth to her next litter. To ensure the safety of her kits ... she bit off their tails at birth ... ensuring they lived full lives.
And so we now come to a brooch by one René Boivin ... a gem-set lion clip brooch pavéed with yellow and white diamonds with baguette cut ruby and sapphire and emerald mane and emerald eyes set in 18 karat yellow gold. Its estimated worth is over $40.000. Take a look and let me know if you think it's the stunner I think it is.
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And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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