Only Chinese version is available
Water-pot in shape of cat in amber glaze
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Year
Liao dynasty (916 – 1125)
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Media
Ceramics
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Dimensions
Height: 9.5 cm Width: 11 cm
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Museum No.
HM1997.97.200
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Description
A water dropper is a stationery item for holding and dripping water in the ink-making process. This water dropper is made in the shape of a cat quietly crouching, curling up adorably like a ball. There is a hole on its back for filling water which comes out through its mouth. The Khitan people had a high regard for gold because of its value and beautiful colour. This was reflected in the exquisitely made earthenware of yellow glaze often unearthed today, and this is a good example. There is a stringing hole in the flap on the back of the cat to make it easy to carry anywhere, an indication of the nomadic lifestyle of the Khitans. The neck of the cat is decorated with a bow ribbon, the ends of which go around and rest delicately on its back. This artefact shows that cats were already domesticated during the Liao period.
The ancient Chinese agricultural guide, Qimin Yaoshu, written by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei period (386 – 534), says that before preparing the distiller’s yeast to make wine, one should keep a cat to get rid of rats. Such a mention shows that cats were already widely kept in households in northern China at the time. The peasants used cats to protect the crops in the fields and grains in storage, whereas the literati used cats to protect their books from being damaged by rats. During the Tang dynasty (618 – 907), keeping cats became popular in the palaces not only because they could catch rats, but also because court ladies loved to keep them as pets. Since the Chinese characters of cat (mao) and butterfly (die) are homophonic with the term maodie for people in their eighties or nineties, they are recurrent motifs in Chinese art as wishes for longevity.
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—Collection of Hong Kong Heritage Museum, donated by The Tsui Art Foundation
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