Historical Abyssinian Information

The information shown here comes from the archives of Nile Abyssinians

Index

a)    1931 English Aby Standard   
b)    Blue Aby in 1891
c)    Cinnamon Aby in 1935
d)    Fawn Aby in 1971
e)    1934 English Show Result 

1931 UK Abyssinian Standard of Points

Colour and Type. - Ruddy brown, ticked with black or dark brown, double or treble ticking, i.e., two or three bands of colour on each hair, preferably (sic) to single ticking, no bars or other markings except that a dark spine line will not militate against an otherwise good specimen. Inside of fore-legs and belly should be of a tint to harmonize well with the main colour, the preference being given to orange-brown; no white markings permissible.. - Ruddy brown, ticked with black or dark brown, double or treble ticking, i.e., two or three bands of colour on each hair, preferably (sic) to single ticking, no bars or other markings except that a dark spine line will not militate against an otherwise good specimen. Inside of fore-legs and belly should be of a tint to harmonize well with the main colour, the preference being given to orange-brown; no white markings permissible. Colour and Type. - Ruddy brown, ticked with black or dark brown, double or treble ticking, i.e., two or three bands of colour on each hair, preferably (sic) to single ticking, no bars or other markings except that a dark spine line will not militate against an otherwise good specimen. Inside of fore-legs and belly should be of a tint to harmonize well with the main colour, the preference being given to orange-brown; no white markings permissible.

Absence of markings. i.e., bars on head, tail, face and chest, is a very important property of this breed. These places are just where a cat or other feline animal shows markings at all, they will hold their ground to the last with remarkable pertinacity. The less (sic) markings visible the better; at the same time the judge must not attach such undue importance to this property that he fails to give due importance to others. For instance; it does not follow that an absolutely unmarked cat, but of "cobby" build, failing in ticking and colour, is, on account of absence of marking, better than a cat of slender build, well ticked, and of nice colour, but handicapped by a certain amount of "barring" on legs and tail.

Head and Ears. - Head long and pointed, ears sharp, comparatively large and broad at base.
Eyes. - Large, bright and expressive. Colour: Green, yellow or hazel.
Tail. - Fairly long, and tapering.
Feet. - Small, pads black; this colour also extending up the back of hind legs.
Coat. - Short, fine and close.
Size. - Never large or coarse.

SCALE OF POINTS

Body Colour and Type

40

Head and Ears       

15

Eyes                

10

Tail                 

5

Feet and Legs       

10

Size                 

5

Condition           

10

Total               

100

This standard of the (UK) Abyssinian Cat Club, comes from the 1931 Abyssinian Cat Club Yearbook. The (then) recently deceased Mr H.C. Brooke (d. 14-Nov-30) is believed to have had a major hand in framing it.


Early Aby Colours & Dilutions

Blue  — Show results in "Fur and Feather", 19 March 1891.

"CATS – FOREIGN MALE (13): 1st and special, Teale, 'King Tom', a great winner, brown Persian, very rich in colour, and splendid marking, frill, and brush; 2nd, Miss Tats, red Persian, very rich colour, not up in coat; 3rd, Mrs Sugden, blue Abyssinian, short in coat, splendid colour and eyes."

Cinnamon   —Entry in GCCF Stud Book for 1935-37

"221 PATZENHOFER (Red). m., s. Tej, d. Bufi, br. Miss N. Richardson, b. Mar 1st, 1935. Owner, Mrs Kelsall."

[Note from George Kennedy: Miss Richardson was also the owner of Pharaoh (b. Dec. 1930), who had sired Cinnamons and might have been behind the sire or dam of Patzenhofer]

Fawn    — Colour cover photo in (English) magazine "Our Cats" September/October 1971

"SUN DANCE AUTUMN MIST, a cream Abyssinian owned and bred by Mrs Donna J. Coss, Sun Dance Abyssinians, Garden Prairie, IL, USA. Autumn Mist is from a red dam and a ruddy sire; son back to dam breeding. The coat is very plush, no barring or white, and deep copper eye colour. There were two cream females and two ruddies in the litter, one male, one female — born on 24th April, 1971. Mrs Coss says that the creams are extremely beautiful but discouraging to work with in the USA, as any colour but ruddy is frowned upon."

 

1934 Show Result

The Croydon Cat Club Championship Show was held at Central Baths Hall, Scarbrook Road, Croydon, Surrey (UK), on Wednesday, November 14th 1934. The marked-up catalog shows 6 Abyssinian kittens entered, under judge Capt. Powell. Here are the results:

233.     Major E.S. Woodiwiss, Woodrooffe Anthony (M), by Pharaoh, ex Southampton Ras Babette, born April 18th, 1934. Breeder, Mrs Easther. (for sale at £7 7s. 0d.) {unplaced}

234.     Major E.S. Woodiwiss, Woodrooffe Titus (M), by Tim The Harvester, ex Woodrooffe Aura, born July 17th, 1934. Breeder, Exhibitor. {3rd}

235.    Mrs Easther, Standish Sinia Colette (F), by Pharaoh, ex Southampton Ras Babette, born April 18th, 1934. Breeder, Exhibitor. {unplaced}   

236.    Mr C. Walsh, Wady (M), by Ch. Bruton Billiken, ex Pipbun, born May 19th, 1934. Breeder, Exhibitor {1st}

237.    Mr C. Walsh, Abou (M), by Ch. Bruton Billiken, ex Pipbun, born May 19th, 1934. Breeder, Exhibitor {2nd}

238.    Mrs Cavenaugh, Standish Sinia Cleo (F), by Pharaoh, ex Southampton Ras Babette, born April 18th, 1934. Breeder, Mrs Easther. {unplaced}        

[Note from George Kennedy: This appears to be the only extant original reference for Woodrooffe Anthony's sire and dam, and also for Abou's birthdate.]

This page was last updated on  19-Aug-14

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