Launched in 2001 by Border Fine Arts Studio, Linda Jane Smith's Comic and Curious Cats were instantly recognisable and have become highly collectable. Characterised by gentle humour and exquisite attention to detail, each piece was carefully modelled by Janet Miller (JBM) to make a faithful 3D reproduction of Linda's original artwork.
Below is "Sew Far, Sew Good"
Each limited edition piece included at least one cheeky mouse, generally making merry despite the presence of one or more of Linda's cats! See below for one of the cheeky mice from Sew Far, Sew Good, poking his nose out of the sewing machine table drawer!
Open edition releases were punctuated by Limited Edition works. These carried a much higher price tag reflecting both the size and form of the piece (larger and with more complex, detailed modelling) and the relative scarcity of these pieces - edition sizes ranged from 500 to 1,500 pieces. Even as a specialist cat gift retailer, we struggled to get enough stock to meet customer demand. Pictured below is Cat Calls, a 2006 Limited Edition. It comes with a product tag that reads "We were just hanging around when the phone rang, so Fred answered it! It was a bit tricky reaching the shelf but we managed. Then we all listened in!"
Red phone box and pillar box models helped to attract an international audience, delighted at being able to combine their love of the UK with their love of cats!
As part of our 25th Anniversary year (we started out in July 2001), The Cat Gallery is offering customers the opportunity to complete gaps in an existing collection or to start a fresh one! All pieces offered have been pre-loved and many will now lack original boxes or certificates. We focus on the quality of the piece itself, striving to find examples in excellent condition. If a piece does have a known defect, it will be mentioned in the listing. We have 25 years of experience of delighting customers with our mail order service. We pack items carefully and ship promptly. Why not take a look at our current Linda Jane Smith pieces in our Vintage Collection ?