Going back to at least the medieval period, cats have sometimes been given a false reputation- being associated with witchcraft and other demons- especially black cats.

We of course reject this stereotype, and attribute that false narrative to what cats really are: feline creatures with complex personalties!  As an example: this fine fellow, with intense tiger stripes and a typical cat-like stoic disposition, somehow tolerates posing for the camera. The photographer’s faithful yet chaotically inclined companion?  We may never know, as the artist’s identify, supplied by the French seller, was only their initials: JDM.

This photograph was one of about 10 views being sold the seller had dated to around 1910. Removed from an album, the other subjects were identified as having been taken in England, and one Egyptian view. With no provenance available, an online search brought up two possible matches by this archive: J.D. M’Callum, Secretary of the Belfast Queen’s University Camera Club before 1915 and a lone 1911 reference in an issue of The Amateur Photographer and Photographic News for a JDM of Cambuslang, a town in Scotland.