SILVER LOTUS(1898)


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND | PARENTAGE & OWNERSHIP | SIBLINGS & SHOWS | BREEDING & PROGENY
PHOTOS | SOCIAL MEDIA | REFERENCES

Photo: E.Landor, Ealing. Raphael Tuck, Art Series Postcard. Courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

'Silver Lotus' and her litter sister 'Silver Veronica' (aka St.Veronica) jointly gained notoriety as 'The Daughters of The Squire'. This was during the heyday of the blossoming Silver Fanciers, when so many of them were simply attempting to breed clearer coated kittens from a plethora or foundation lines, most descended over a very short period from 'Ch. Silver Lambkin', his dam 'Beauty of Bridgeyate' or outcross lines such as 'The Nizam'. A number of breeders had also started with Silver Tabbies, and had crossed their initial lines with Smokes and early Chinchillas in the hunt for Silvers without barring. The result was a mixed bag of light Silver Tabbies, Shaded Silvers with some barring, Mask Silvers, and what was slowly but surely developing into the unique Chinchilla, but was still in essence a Shaded Silver cat with minimised barring. The goal was, for a clear-coated Silver, which was in the day, initially referred to incongruously as 'The Self Silver'. The problem was, that judges were between a rock and a hard place in defining on the day of a show, whether cat was technically a Chinchilla or a Shaded Silver, and that in itself, lead to a great deal of frustration.

The dilemma, was to settle on a standard for the colour and tipping which could be applied universally by all judges. Frances Simpson relates this problem well in this quotation from Cat for Pleasure and Profit, (this from the 1909 edition):

"And now for the consideration of Silvers, commonly called Chinchillas, otherwise named Shaded Silvers, and very often labelled 'Wrong Class!' To novices in the Fancy, this may sound a little mixed, so let me explain. These beautiful cats have been through stormy waters so to speak. A Specialist Society was started …for this breed, which also included Silver Tabbies and Smokes. The Silvers were divided into Self-silvers and Shaded-silvers. As however, no Self-silver has yet been born or bred, there was naturally a difficulty in filling any class set apart for these particular specimens at shows. So the lightest Silvers were considered eligible, and then came the difficulty for exhibitor and judge to draw the line between the two varieties, and to decide what degree of paleness constituted a Self-silver (so-called)and what amount of dark markings would relegate the specimen into the Shaded-silver class. Naturally it became as Silver puzzle and a Silver muddle. Exhibitors waxed wroth and judges became exasperated. Then the term 'Self-silver" was abandoned, but the endeavour to breed a Silver without any shadings or marking is still the height and ambition of many a fancier of this beautiful breed.12"

PARENTAGE & OWNERSHIP:

'Silver Lotus' was born on 9th July, 1898,³ in a litter of three sired by Mrs Balding's 'The Silver Squire', a Silver son of the famous 'Ch. Silver Lambkin', who was himself out of the immensely valuable, 'I, Beauty's Daughter' (from a breeding of 'The Nizam' to the dam of 'Ch.Silver Lambkin', namely 'Beauty of Bridgeyate') . Her dam was Mrs. Wellbye's singular excellent little brood queen, 'Dossie', a female Mrs. Wellbye had acquired from Lady Fitzhardinge.

Having already bred 'Dossie' the previous year, directly and successfully to 'Ch. Silver Lambkin' with excellent results, in 1898, Mrs Wellbye chose to try a variation, and this time chose to breed 'Dossie' to another of Mrs. Balding's males, a son of 'Ch. Silver Lambkin' known as 'The Silver Squire'. This was a move with exceptional foresight, as 'Silver Squire' was the product of a half-brother to half-sister mating, doubling on the dam of 'Ch. Silver Lambkin' himself. When Mrs. Wellbye had bred 'Dossie' directly to 'Ch. Silver Lambkin' and produced both 'Jessamine' and 'The Silver Lily', she had simply doubled on 'Ch. Silver Lambkin's' dam, through Dossie's grandsire, 'Charlbury Silver King'. But by choosing to breed to 'Silver Squire', she was in fact choosing to TRIPLE exclusively on 'Beauty of Bridgeyate'.

        Eng Ch Silver Lambkin
    Silver Squire, Chinchilla
    |   Unknown
Silver Lotus, Jul-09-1898, Chinchilla, F
    |   Mr. York
    Dossie, Chinchilla
        May

SIBLINGS & SHOWS:

From this breeding came two more females and a male, the females being photographed extensively by E.Landor, (Ealing), both as kittens and young cats and who became well known simply as "the daughters of The Squire". The male was registered as 'Lucifer', but although he is listed under Mrs. Wellbye's name, there are no photographs extant and no records of any progeny from him.

Both females however, were shown very successfully as can be attested to by the commentary of Frances Simpson in The Book of the Cat (1903) in which she states:

".....which may also be said of those of Mrs Wellbye, whose 'Silver Lotus' and 'Veronica,' daughters of 'Silver Squire' and 'Dossie,' did so much winning in their day."1

Unlike her sibling 'Silver Veronica' who is registered without a number in The Cat Club Register3, with none of her show winnings recorded, 'Silver Lotus' appears in the National Cat Club Register, with full details of ownership breeding and show wins to date:

'Silver Lotus': Two firsts, 2nd and 3rd at the Crystal Palace, 1899;
1st and Special, Brighton, 1899.2

Postcards of both exist, separately and together as kittens and cats along with their associated nicknames. 'Silver Veronica' (aka St.Veronica), is the probably the least publicly known of 'Dossie's 'daughters' and the least photographed, but she appears on the postcards jointly with her more recognisable sister. Head-wise, they are strikingly similar, but just as 'Silver Lily' was lighter than her litter sister 'Jessamine', so too was 'Silver Lotus', lighter than her littermate 'Silver Veronica'. The difference however was not quite as extreme in this litter, from 'The Silver Squire'.

Photo: E.Landor, Ealing. From page 49, The Book of The Cat (1903) by Frances Simpson1
Left front: 'Silver Veronica', Right rear: 'Silver Lotus'
Image courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection

The very handsome vignette shown right comes from page 49 of The Book of the Cat (1903) by Frances Simpson, at the head of Chapter IV, 'The Housing of Cats'. This is we believe , another photograph in the series on 'The Daughters of The Squire', only in this case, 'Silver Veronica' is on the left side, laying down, while 'Silver Lotus' remains upright behind her. This image has also been published widely as a postcard, with the captions, 'In a playful sort of way' and 'Coax Me'. The 'Coax Me' image is published by a Boston-based Postcard company.

The unqualified success of this breeding did not go unnoticed. Mrs. Balding, having seen 'Dossie' and knowing her background, would have recognised immediately the potential of her young male 'The Silver Squire' to be line-bred back to any queen of quality that already possessed a liberal amount of 'Beauty of Bridgeyate' blood. Mrs. Martin owned the valuable silver female, 'Lambkin Queen', one of the famous daughters of 'The Nizam' and 'Beauty of Bridgeyate', and this queen had produced a fine female kitten in February 1898 in the form 'Silver Blossom' sired by a silver male named 'Saint Anthony'. There is little room for doubt that Mrs Balding is likely to have encouraged Mrs Martin to breed her valuable female to her own'Silver Squire', to obtain the same TRIPLING of 'Beauty's' bloodline. From the resulting litter came the well-known female 'The Squire's Daughter'.

Of notable half-siblings, we would look firstly to those kittens out of their common dam, "Dossie". These would include the first two daughters from her first breeding to 'Ch. Silver Lamkin' which produced 'Silver Jessamine' and 'The Silver Lily'. A later repeat of this breeding, in 1899, produced a male, 'Silver Monarch'. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, another half-sibling by 'The Silver Squire' and out of 'Lambkin Queen' was 'The Squires Daughter'.

The 'dam-siblings' of 'Silver Veronica'
Above left: Cropped image of 'Silver Jessamine' from a Rotary Photographic Plate Sunk Series Postcard.5
Above right: Cropped image of 'The Silver Lily' from studio photograph by W. Muntz, Southport.6
Bottom left: Cropped image of litter sister, 'Silver Veronica' from a C. W. Faulkner & Co. Series Postcard 7
Bottom right: Cropped image of 'Silver Monarch' from a Rapid Photo 'Classic Series' Postcard.8
Image courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection

BREEDING & PROGENY:

There appears to be only one breeding recorded for 'Silver Lotus' which resulted in live progeny. But what a breeding it was! The closest relative to her own sire 'Silver Squire' was the chinchilla male 'Ch. Lord Southampton', owned by Miss Gertrude Willoughby.(Later Lady Decies). When laying their pedigrees side by side, they are in fact, three quarters the same, both are sired by 'Ch. Silver Lambkin' and in both cases, their dams are out of 'Beauty of Bridgeyate. On one pedigree (that of 'Lord Southampton), the one quarter outcross coming from the solid Blue Persian male, 'Ch. Bundle', while on the other, (that of the 'Silver Squire'), the outcross is 'The Nizam'. So in effect the breeding to 'Ch. Lord Southampton' was almost a daughter to sire breeding, doubling yet again on those all- important silver strains from 'Beauty of Bridgeyate' a total of five times on the one pedigree, but also bringing together both outcrosses into the one pedigree.

The result, in this case, was a Shaded Silver female, named 'Countess Fay', born 14th May, 1899.3

PHOTOS:

Mrs. Wellbye's 'Silver Lotus'
Photo: E. Landor, Ealing. Cropped image from 'The Book of The Cat' (1903) by Frances Simpson1
Image courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection

These two images of 'Silver Lotus' were clearly taken at the same photographic session, the first which appeared in The Book of The Cat (1903) by Frances Simpson is well known and easily recognised. The second, taken from a slightly more obtuse angle, is not so well known and was produced by the Philco Publishing Co. Ltd (London), as a postcard. We were very fortunate indeed to find it, and although the cat is not specifically named, the fact that is 'Silver Lotus' is undeniable.

Mrs. Wellbye's 'Silver Lotus'
Photo: E. Landor, Ealing. Cropped image from Philco Publishing Co.Ltd Postcard9
Image courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection

SOCIAL MEDIA :

The 'Daughters of The Squire' & 'Dossie' together.
Colour image above: 'Silver Lotus' and 'Silver Veronica' from a F.Frith & Co.Ltd Postcard.7
Black & White image above: Duplicate image from a non-notated Russian reproduction of the era.8
Image courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection

Mrs Wellbye's 'Silver Lotus'
Photo: E.Landor, Ealing. "The Cult of The Cat", by W.M.Elkington, The Lady's Realm, August, 1903
Image courtesy of The Harrison Weir Collection

REFERENCES:

  1. The Book of The Cat by Frances Simpson, 1903
  2. The National Cat Club Register
  3. The Cat Club Register
  4. Rafael Tuck Art Series Postcard
  5. Rotary Photographic Plate Sunk Series Postcard
  6. Studio Photograph by W.Muntz, Southport
  7. C.W. Faulkner Series Postcard
  8. Rapid Photo, 'Classic Series' Postcard
  9. Philco Publishing Co. Ltd (London) postcard
  10. F. Frith & Co. Ltd Postcard
  11. Unknown Russian Postcard
  12. Cats for Pleasure and Profit by Frances Simpson, 1909
  13. Photos and Quotations as per credits noted

Registers associated with this article include The Incorporated Cat Fanciers Association of Great Britain (TICFAGB), National Cat Club (NCC), The Cat Club (CCR), Beresford Cat Club (BCC), Feline Federation Francaise (FFF), Siamese Cat Registry (SCR), US Register & Studbook for Cats (USR)including Supplement(USRS), The Studbook of the American Cat Association (ACA), and the Studbook & Register of the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA).

 


Home | Cats | Gallery | Clubs | People | Artifacts | Articles | Updates | Contact Us

©The CFA Foundation, Inc and The Harrison Weir Collection
This project is a collaboration between The CFA Foundation, Inc. and The Harrison Weir Collection.
All material on this site is copyrighted and may not be printed or reproduced, in any form, without the express written consent of the collaborators.