This is the first book to be published devoted exclusively to porcelain cats produced in this country during the 19th century. Cats were turned out by most of the principal porcelain factories operating during the period, including Rockingham, Derby, Chamberlain, Worcester, Grainger Lee Worcester, Royal Worcester, Minton, Copeland &Garrett (and its successor Copeland), Samuel Alcock, Charles Bourne, and Dudson, as well as by factories so far unidentified of which little is known except that they were located somewhere in Staffordshire.
The history is given of those factories whose identity is known, but the real emphasis and strength of the book lie in the illustrations (mostly in colour) which are both numerous and far ranging. Porcelain cats are rare, and very few examples of the period can be found in public museums. Accordingly all the illustrations are from private collections, auction houses, or dealers, and they afford the reader a unique opportunity of seeing how charmingly these perennially fascinating animals came to be represented in porcelain in this country during the 19th century.
Consideration is also given to the original market for these porcelain cats and the way in which they were distributed to the ultimate purchasers.