The image of a regal-looking feline is often circulating on social media along with claims that it shows the first ever photograph of a cat:
while we have not been able to definitively determine the origin of this image, we can confidently say that this is not the oldest photograph of a cat.
For starters, this image is often circulated with the claim that it was taken in the 1880s, but the earliest cat photographs date back to at least the 1840s. When we examine these earlier cat photos, it’s clear that the The image shown above was not created using the same methods that were used in the 1840s.
The internet’s penchant for taking and sharing cat photos may seem like a modern tradition, but long before we had maru, lil bub or grumpy cat, we had photographer harry pointer and the “brighton cats. “
pointer, who lived in brighton, england, became known for a series of photographs he took in the 1870s of “brighton cats”. pointer took pictures of cats doing normal cat things, like lounging, drinking milk, and sleeping in baskets, but his pictures became more popular when he began to place his cats in funny or unusual positions. one photograph, for example, showed a cat on a tricycle; another showed a cat next to a few cups of tea.
a review of the large number of photographs of pointer animals published in the 1879 edition of the london art magazine noted that the images were certainly amusing, but they also spoke to the humanity of our pets:
brighton’s mr pointer remains the artist who dedicates his skill, experience and skill in the service of his special role models – cats. he is a valuable ally of society to extend “humanity to animals”, his portraits convey the conviction that the latter act and act: not only the cats, but also the dogs he portrays, he gives assurances of superior attributes of humanity. – memory, compassion, gratitude, affection, devoted and selfless friendship. they also manifest the passions – the good and the bad – and are evidently endowed with those that elevate or degrade men and women. an exam of mr. Point’s singularly large collection provides food for thought: it’s a lot of fun, it’s true, but it appeals to a much higher feeling than mere fun.
how devoutly all artists would pray that their human models were as docile, patient, and docile as mr. pointer cats and dogs! the collection is of singular interest: mr. pointer will bring joy not only to art lovers, but also to those who adore nature.
here are some photographs from the brighton cat series, the first of which (cat in a water can) was taken around 1870:
david sinkin, a historian of photography who runs sussex-photohistory, a website dedicated to england’s early photographers that hosts several additional images from the brighton cat series, told us that pointer was not the first person to photograph a cat William Henry Mason Jr., for example, took the following photograph around 1860. Sinkin explained that this image was created using a “daguerreotype process,” which involves “fixing a photographic image onto a silver-plated copper plate “:
although this daguerreotype process was probably used to create the first photograph of a cat, rev. calvert richard jones used a different method, the calotype process, which involves making a salted print from a paper negative, to create the following image around 1854:
none of these images, however, can claim the title of the oldest cat photograph in the world. while we don’t have a definitive answer to this question, the most likely contender seems to be this daguerreotype of a cat drinking from a bowl that was taken around 1845:
so what about the image at the top of this article, the one often shared with the claim that it is the oldest cat photograph in the world?
sinkin told us he couldn’t be sure without examining the physical image, but said the image did not appear to be made with the daguerreotype or salted negative processes shown above and was therefore clearly not “photography” oldest cat in the world:
I have never seen this photograph of a cat before, but I can confidently say that it is not “the oldest known photograph of a cat…
judging from the image alone, I would suggest that the photograph was produced in the early 20th century at the earliest, unless the original was originally monochrome and ‘coloured’ at a later date…
any image claiming to be ‘the oldest known photograph of a cat’ would have to be in the form of a daguerreotype or perhaps a salty print from a paper negative.
