Today is Friday the 13th, considered an unlucky day by some. Black cats in many parts of the world are also considered a symbol of bad luck. However, any collector coming across this rather fierce looking feline would be considered lucky. This is a Felix the Cat as interpreted by the English toy company Chad Valley in the early 1920s. Of black and white mohair, with jointed limbs and a hunched back, he is 14 inches tall. He is in overall good condition with his original bow. The eyes are old glass, but are replacements, as he should have glass black and white eyes (the prominent eyes are very vulnerable to loss).
Felix appeared in 1919 in silent animated short cartoons. The first Felix had a prominent snout and long pointed ears. The imaginative and often surrealistic cartoons made Felix a favorite mascot for both children and adults and his image appeared on a wide variety of products, from toys to postcards to sheet music. In 1924 Felix was redesigned with rounder, cuter features. This Chad Valley Felix was inspired by the earlier, and one might say scary, version of Felix.
No comments:
Post a Comment