Louis Wain Fact #64:
Although Wain’s role in the rise of the household cat as a pet is quite well-known, he was also a supporter of keeping mice as pets, a practice which today is still considered quite odd. In 1899 he wrote an article called “The Mouse Club” on the subject, praising them as “desirable pets.” A lot of the information seems to come from the British Mouse Club which was associated with the cat club Wain was president of; it is unknown if he had any mice himself.
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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.