Some years ago a watercolor painted by cartoonist Ronald Searle of James Mason's cat and presented to his family showed up on eBay for the asking price, if memory serves, of $6,000. There was no bidding at this level and the price was not lowered in response, so I don't believe it ever sold. In the 1950's Searle was not yet the cat specialist he was to become, but the Masons were very much the quintessential cat fanciers. Indeed, they wrote and James illustrated a book about cats, and it is intriguing to speculate what influence they might have had on the eventual development of Searle's Cats and later work dating from the 1960's and onward.
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| Inscribed "For Pam, James and Porty with love from Kaye and Ronald. May 1953" |
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| Inscribed "For James and Pam with love from Kaye and Ronald Christmas 1956. —a sort of reminder of this side of the water..." in Ronald Searle. Merry England, Etc. London: Perpeptua, 1956.
Photo courtesy of David from Manhattan
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| This book sold for $511 on eBay in January of 2008. |
Few actors are more riveting than James Mason, so please forgive the suggestion that his cat illustrations are somewhat less compelling than his acting. Still, they're not bad for amateur work and The Cats in Our Lives is meant to be a highly personal reflection on cats, so he gets a pass. His reaction to Searle's work we can only imagine, but we know the watercolor was framed and the book remained in his library for more than half a century.
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| Pamela Kellino and James Mason, The Cats in Our Lives, Lives. New York: Current Books, Inc., 1949 Illustrated by James Mason |
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| Pamela Kellino and James Mason, The Cats in Our Lives. New York: Current Books, Inc., 1949 Illustrated by James Mason |
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| Pamela Kellino and James Mason, The Cats in Our Lives. New York: Current Books, Inc., 1949 Back cover photo |
Once again, I am indebted to David from Manhattan for opening up not only his library but also his eBay archive to us. Thanks, David!
Signed Books with Original Drawings
Cats
Christmas
02052
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