Blue John is our Limited Edition 2025 Annual Cat. Handcast in York and individually numbered, he will only be available to purchase during 2025. Get your low number now!
-
Description
Blue John is our Limited Edition 2025 Annual Cat. Handcast in York and individually numbered, he will only be available to purchase during 2025. Get your low number now!
Blue John is the name given to a very rare type of banded Fluorspar mineral which exists in only one location worldwide - near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District. Its colouring often incudes bands of blue, light/dark purple, black, yellow and white crystal. See extra image for an example of a museum-quality Blue John bowl. Whilst it appears to be referenced in literature as far back as Roman times, it is now thought that whilst they mined for lead in Derbyshire, they didn't discover Blue John. The earliest references to mining operations date from 1766. The name Blue John is possibly derived from French "Bleu Jaune" or Blue/Yellow. This makes sense except that there is no clear evidence of Blue John actually being worked in France. Another possibility is that it comes from Cornish tin miners who worked in Derbyshire mines from the 1740's. They called a variety of minerals "blue john" from Cornish "bleujenn" or Old Cornish "blodon", meaning bloom.
Blue John artifacts can be dated back to the second half of the 18th century when mine leases restricted production to 20 tonnes a year. By the late 1890's this was further restricted to 3 tonnes and nowadays no more than half a tonne is extracted each year. It is mainly worked locally into jewellery and other small trinkets.
Our Blue John cat pays homage to this beautiful and rare mineral. In many ways our Blue John cat is rarer - he will only be available to purchase during 2025. He is entirely hand made in York by Peter, founder of The Cat Gallery and The Lucky Cat Shop.
Like real Blue John, designs, patterns and colours vary significantly. The Blue John cat shown on this listing is indicative of what you will receive, but the making technique means that not all colours may be present or may differ in intensity from the image shown. That, of course, makes each piece absolutely unique. Your piece will be similar, but quite different to any other!
As with all our cat-sized pieces, Blue John Original Lucky Cat is offered with your choice of charm. Pair your cat with whichever charm holds most significance for you.
Your handmade 8.5cm Lucky Cat comes with:
- collar
- Choice of charm: stainless steel Initial charm (gold colour) / birthstone crystal charm / Flag
- wrapped in bespoke tissue
- premium gift box
- Insert card which includes a history of cats in York
Size: 8.5cm tall
Charity Donation (1% of sales): Every purchase helps the work of International Cat Care, a highly effective UK charity, whose education and training programmes improve the lives of some 25 million cats worldwide every year.
Picture Credit for Cliff Blue Vein Bowl: By Pasicles - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22365560
-
Delivery Info
英国邮寄和送货
标准英国送货 - 4.95 英镑
周一至周五下午 1 点之前下达的订单将在同一天发货（银行假日除外）。
-
Reviews
Description
Blue John is our Limited Edition 2025 Annual Cat. Handcast in York and individually numbered, he will only be available to purchase during 2025. Get your low number now!
Blue John is the name given to a very rare type of banded Fluorspar mineral which exists in only one location worldwide - near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District. Its colouring often incudes bands of blue, light/dark purple, black, yellow and white crystal. See extra image for an example of a museum-quality Blue John bowl. Whilst it appears to be referenced in literature as far back as Roman times, it is now thought that whilst they mined for lead in Derbyshire, they didn't discover Blue John. The earliest references to mining operations date from 1766. The name Blue John is possibly derived from French "Bleu Jaune" or Blue/Yellow. This makes sense except that there is no clear evidence of Blue John actually being worked in France. Another possibility is that it comes from Cornish tin miners who worked in Derbyshire mines from the 1740's. They called a variety of minerals "blue john" from Cornish "bleujenn" or Old Cornish "blodon", meaning bloom.
Blue John artifacts can be dated back to the second half of the 18th century when mine leases restricted production to 20 tonnes a year. By the late 1890's this was further restricted to 3 tonnes and nowadays no more than half a tonne is extracted each year. It is mainly worked locally into jewellery and other small trinkets.
Our Blue John cat pays homage to this beautiful and rare mineral. In many ways our Blue John cat is rarer - he will only be available to purchase during 2025. He is entirely hand made in York by Peter, founder of The Cat Gallery and The Lucky Cat Shop.
Like real Blue John, designs, patterns and colours vary significantly. The Blue John cat shown on this listing is indicative of what you will receive, but the making technique means that not all colours may be present or may differ in intensity from the image shown. That, of course, makes each piece absolutely unique. Your piece will be similar, but quite different to any other!
As with all our cat-sized pieces, Blue John Original Lucky Cat is offered with your choice of charm. Pair your cat with whichever charm holds most significance for you.
Your handmade 8.5cm Lucky Cat comes with:
- collar
- Choice of charm: stainless steel Initial charm (gold colour) / birthstone crystal charm / Flag
- wrapped in bespoke tissue
- premium gift box
- Insert card which includes a history of cats in York
Size: 8.5cm tall
Charity Donation (1% of sales): Every purchase helps the work of International Cat Care, a highly effective UK charity, whose education and training programmes improve the lives of some 25 million cats worldwide every year.
Picture Credit for Cliff Blue Vein Bowl: By Pasicles - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22365560
英国邮寄和送货
标准英国送货 - 4.95 英镑
周一至周五下午 1 点之前下达的订单将在同一天发货（银行假日除外）。
