Swatting trinkets off the counter, 3 AM wake-up calls, and laying on the keyboard while you’re actively using it. If you have a cat in your life, you’re likely familiar with these endearing qualities and then some.
A quick image search for “cat” on JSTOR yields 39,938 results. This International Cat Day, we’re celebrating our feline friends by bringing you some of our favorite cat images from the JSTOR platform (in no particular order).
1. IN DEFENSE OF CATS
This is a safe space. You don’t ever have to defend your love for cats like our good friend Gladys here.
2. Painting of Cats and Magpies
This painting by Sang-Byuck Byun depicts two cats scaling a tree to catch some magpies. If it’s not a tree in the great outdoors, it’s most certainly the curtains and artificial plants in our homes. We love this one because it captures the kind of mischief that endears cats to all of their admirers.
3. Blue Kitty Creamer
We have a weakness for cat-shaped household items, and this Blue Kitty Creamer theater prop is no exception. If it wasn’t enough to have your cat dipping their paws in your actual cup of joe, you could also have a small ceramic cat taunting you from your table.
4. Velvet Bag with Two Cats
We’re tote bag connoisseurs here at JSTOR (if you know, you know), but there’s nothing quite like a bag featuring these cute critters. This tote bag was made in India and is made from velvet and cotton textiles.
5. Still Life With Cat
Nobody can deny that cats have mystical qualities and supernatural abilities. Surely they can perceive things beyond human understanding, such as sensing spirits, detecting negative energy, or predicting that you’re about to give them some nasty medicine, thus sending them just out of arm’s reach directly under the bed. To us, this photo encapsulates the feline mystique.
6. Three Cats Performing a Song and Dance Act
Cats always bring the drama. In this Louis Wain painting, three cats appear to be putting on their best show in spiffy attire. We can hear their loud, high-pitched mewing now…
7. Cat; Trotting; Change to Gallop
And if it isn’t a song and dance, then it’s certainly the zoomies! This series of photographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge perfectly encapsulates the random, frenetic, intense bursts of energy that cats often experience. Usually at 3am.
8. Embroidered Carpet
Ever tried to go to the loo in the wee hours of the night only to trip over one or more cats on the way there? With Caswell’s Embroidered Carpet, you can build those cats right into your decor.
9. Courtesan with Cat
We think cats make the perfect accessory for any outfit, as depicted in Utamaro’s print.
10. Cat Litter
11. Head of a cat
The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids, invented one of the earliest known writing systems, created the solar calendar we use today, developed a decimal system and used mathematics extensively in engineering and building, and perhaps most importantly of all, revered cats above all other animals and associated them with divinity. Killing a cat, even accidentally, was considered a grave offense and could result in severe punishment, including death. The high status cats held in Egyptian society is evident in ancient Eqyptian art and iconography, including this sculpture. But we’re not surprised in the least–look how boopable that nose is!
12. Colossal Foot of Constantine (from Statue) Ref: Size Comparison with a Cat
As you well know, cats don’t care how small or big the object of their desire is–whether it’s an empty Diet Coke box or a Colossal Foot of Constantine, if they fit, they sit.
13. Woman with a Cat
Ever try to read with a cat? Good luck trying to finish that book, Woman, from Léger’s Woman with a Cat.
14. AFGHANISTAN. Mazar-i-Sharif. 2002. A Laborer Holds a Small Kitten. Cats Have Been Revered and Cherished in Many Asian Countries since Ancient Times.
We’re bewitched by the eyes of the small and clearly beloved kitten in this photo, taken in Afghanistan in 2002. This beautiful piece of photojournalism proves that a reverence for cats is, indeed, universal.
15. Sleeping Cat
On average, cats need 13-16 hours of beauty sleep in a 24-hour day. But is there anything more peaceful and adorable than a napping feline like this one?
16. 6 AM: Cat Alarm Clocks from Kitty City
Who needs a cat-shaped clock when you have cats who act like clocks? This painting is illustrative of a common scene from a multi-cat home.
17. Ring with Cat and Kittens
If someone got down on one knee and proposed to me with this ring, I would have no choice but to say, “yes!” I don’t make the rules…
18. Fur Traders Descending the Missouri
Cats have provided their humans comfort as they brave uncharted territory since time immemorial, as this trusty companion does for these fur traders on the American frontier.
19. Girl with Cat II
Is there anything better after a long day than curling up with your cat like this? We don’t think so.
20. Women and Cats
We’re wrapping up this list with a reminder that cats are more than mere pets. For many of us they’re family, and part of the joys we experience everyday. The women in this photo prove their love by making a valiant effort to keep their cats still for a group photo. They did a much better job than we ever could.
Cats of JSTOR
For more cats of JSTOR, check out our open cat content. In honor of International Cat Day, share your favorite cat images on social media with the hashtag #CatsOfJSTOR, and we’ll feature our favorites!
Dedication
This post is dedicated to the memory of Rusty Spitz, his humans’ loving and loyal companion for nearly 12 years. His heart was too big for this world.
