ID: 700001958 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700001958	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1 2

Nachtlichtje in de vorm van een kat (sculpture (visual works); unknown Chinese; 1750/1800; Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands); AK-NM-6520; RM001.collect.3846)

Note: For nervous Chinese children this cat was once a comforting nightlight. It is hollow and the eyes, mouth and ears are open. When placed over a candle, the light shines through the apertures. It was a familiar object among European collectors in the eighteenth century: Father d'Entrecolles, a French Jesuit missionary had visited the porcelain kilns of Jingdezhen in China and had described the cat in detail in 1712. Apart from reassuring children, the illuminated porcelain cat was also meant to frighten away rats. This cat shade, decorated with tiny kittens, is extremely rare. It comes from the collection of the lawyer and sinologist Jean Theodore Royer, who collected everything connected with China, from books to cat shades, to learn about how the Chinese lived.

Titles:

Nachtlichtje in de vorm van een kat (preferred,C,U,RP,Dutch-P,U,U)

Shade in the shape of a cat (C,U,DE,English,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

sculpture (visual works) [300047090] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Classifications:

ceramics (preferred)

household accessories

Chinese art

sculptures

Creation Date: 1750/1800

Creator Display:

unknown Chinese [preferred,VP]

anoniem [,VP]

potter unknown Chinese (Chinese cultural designation) [500125222]

Locations:

Current: Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands) [500246547] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: AK-NM-6520; RM001.collect.3846

Credit Line: overdracht van beheer in 1885

Display Materials: porcelain with colored enamel on glaze

	porcelain (material) [300010662]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by composition>, inorganic material, clay, <clay by product>, <ceramic and ceramic by product>, ceramic (material))

	glaze (coating by location) [300015091]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by location or context>)

Dimensions: dimensions: 11(height) x 17 (width) x 12.5 (depth) x 14.7 (base width) x 20.5 (base depth) cm; weight: 531 g

Cultures:

Chinese (preferred)

Qing

General Subject:

animals (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	domestic cat (species) [300265960]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Chordata (phylum), Vertebrata (subphylum), Mammalia (class), Carnivora (order), Felidae (family), Felis (genus)) (AAT)

Copyright: Public Domain

Provenance: overdracht van beheer 1885

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: carvings and sculptures

Additional Notes:

Dutch ..... Stolp in de vorm van een liggende poes. De ogen en mond zijn opengewerkt. In rood-bruin beschilderd in imitatie van de kattenvacht en met drie spelende katjes op de rug.

Sources and Contributors:
Nachtlichtje in de vorm van een kat	........ [VP,Rijksmuseum]
	........ Rijksmuseum XML files (2012) accessed 12 September 2012
	........ Rijksmuseum [online] (2000-) http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/collectie/AK-NM-6520/nachtlichtje-in-de-vorm-van-een-kat
Shade in the shape of a cat	........ [VP]
	........ Rijksmuseum [online] (2000-) http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/AK-NM-6520?lang=en&context_space=aria_encyclopedia&context_id=00047519; accessed 12 September 2012

Subject: ....... [VP,Rijksmuseum]

....................... Rijksmuseum [online] (2000-) http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/AK-NM-6520?lang=en&context_space=aria_encyclopedia&context_id=00047519

....................... Rijksmuseum XML files (2012)

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Rijksmuseum [online] (2000-) http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/AK-NM-6520?lang=en&context_space=aria_encyclopedia&context_id=00047519; accessed 12 September 2012
Dutch	..... [VP]
	..... Rijksmuseum [online] (2000-) http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/collectie/AK-NM-6520/nachtlichtje-in-de-vorm-van-een-kat; accessed 12 September 2012