Cat - Japanese bobtail - Breda Goodwin llimited edition art postcard c.1990s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Gallery of the Golden Cat GC6 - Japanese Bobtail with raised paw beleived to be a symbol of good luck.  From an original paitning by Pamela Bassett, 1992
• Publisher:  Brenda Goodwin / Noel Tatt Ltd. - limited edition no. 157 of 1000
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s):  n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one.

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UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Japanese Bobtail is a breed of domestic cat with an unusual ""bobbed"" tail more closely resembling the tail of a rabbit than that of other cats. The variety is native to Japan and Southeast Asia, though it is now found throughout the world. The breed has been known in Japan for centuries, and it frequently appears in traditional folklore and art.

As in most other breeds, Japanese Bobtails may have almost any color (or colors, arranged in any number of patterns). Predominantly-white calicoes (??, mi-ke^?, literally 'triple-hair') are especially favored by the Japanese and by cat fanciers,^{[citation needed]} and strongly represented in folklore, though other colorations are also accepted by breed standards.

One theory of short-tailed cats in Japan indicates that they arrived from the Asian continent at least 1,000 years ago.^[1] In 1602, Japanese authorities decreed that all cats should be set free to help deal with rodents threatening the silk worms. At that time, buying or selling cats was illegal, and from then on, bobtailed cats lived on farms and in the streets. Japanese Bobtails thus became the ""street cats"" of Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Around 1701, in Kaempfer's Japan, the first book written by a Westerner about the flora, fauna, and landscape of Japan, German doctor Engelbert Kaempfer wrote: ""there is only one breed of cat that is kept. It has large patches of yellow, black and white fur; its short tail looks like it has been bent and broken. It has no mind to hunt for rats and mice but just wants to be carried and stroked by women.""

In 1968, Elizabeth Freret is the first known person to have imported the Japanese Bobtail to the Western Hemisphere from Japan.^{[citation needed]} The short hair Japanese Bobtail was accepted for Championship status in the Cat Fanciers' Association in 1976. Recognition for the long hair variety followed in 1993.^[2] As of 2013, there are a number of Japanese Bobtail breeders, most of which are based in North America with a few in Europe and at least one in Japan; yet the breed remains rare.

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Cats feature prominently in Japanese folklore. As in many other traditions around the world, cats are frequently objects of fear and mistrust, with various supernatural abilities ascribed to them. But in some Japanese stories, the length of their tails is an important plot point, with the Japanese Bobtail seen as auspicious, while long-tailed cats may be suspected of being nekomata, a type of evil spirit.

The maneki neko (""beckoning cat"" or ""inviting cat""), an image of a Japanese Bobtail seated with one paw raised, is considered a good-luck charm among the Japanese around the world, who often keep a statue of this figure in the front of stores or homes (most often a stylized calico, though gold and black variants are also common). This stems from a legend that tells how a man (usually either a priest or member of the royal family) who owned one of these cats looked up one day to see his cat beckoning to him. Thinking the cat might have a message from the gods, he arose and went to it; no sooner had he done so than a branch large enough to kill a man fell where he had been sitting just moments before. Japanese Bobtails also feature prominently in traditional Japanese painting.

One legend of the origin of the breed's short tail, tells of a sleeping cat whose long tail caught fire; it then ran through town, spreading flames everywhere. With the capital in ashes, the Emperor decreed that all cats should have their tails cut short as a preventative measure.^{[citation needed]}

While legends and superstitions may have favored the short-tailed breed, it seems likely that the Bobtail simply has a longer history in Japan than other recognizable breeds. It is also likely to have carried much prestige, having originated on the continent and arrived via Korea in the Asuka period (6th century CE), along with other prized articles of Chinese culture.^{[citation needed]}

type=printed postcards

theme=animals

sub-theme=cats

period=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted