Louis Wain Fact #75:
During mealtimes in the Wain household, Peter allegedly sat patiently with his forepaws resting on the edge of the table until all had finished, then gave three mews before being fed. He also sometimes allowed himself to be adorned with paper spectacles, and could sit on his haunches with a piece of paper in his paws, a funny scene that no doubt inspired some of Wain's early anthropomorphic drawings.
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On loan from the Bethlem Royal Hospital, catalogued by Patricia Allderidge.
108. GINGER CAT
Coloured pencil on paper
Inscribed on verso: F. Deuxbery, Mr. Louis Wain. Sept 1931
Date: September 1931
10" x 7"
The Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital Health Authority (Guttman-Maclay Collection)
This picture was drawn at Napsbury Hospital where the previous owner, Mr Deuxbery, was one of the nurses who looked after Wain. The background is presumably an example of the 'wallpaper patterns', so-called by the staff of Napsbury: in the early 30s Wain is said to have stopped drawing cats at all for a while, and drawn only these patterns, though he soon returned to cats.