Le Chat Noir

If you do a google search for "vintage art nouveau cat" your image results will be peppered with this poster by Theophile Steinlen, in a wide range of colors and saturations. (If you search for "le chat noir" you will find the image available printed on every conceivable item, from notebooks to shower curtains.) Steinlen loved cats, and depicted them often in his print work and in sculpture. This advert for a nightclub is one of his most memorable works, possibly because of the limited color pallet, and absolute cattitude captured in print.

So I made a pendant out of it.

With most of these art-inspired Backstory pendants, I find I need to zoom in. The canvas is too small to depict the whole artwork in miniature, so it is usually necessary to focus on a small but iconic piece. But Le Chat Noir basically is one iconic piece: its a black cat on a gold background. With a halo.

When I chose the smoky quartz cabochon for this, I at first didn't take into account just how transparent it is. I built the entire setting and put the stone in, before realizing the cutout can be seen from the front!

I decided with was a feature, not a bug, and painted the cat black on the inner surface. Seen through the stone from the front, its a dark feline shape lurking in the shadow - very cat-like indeed.

Whether you have a black cat of your own, or just adore a good art nouveau reference, you can fall in love with this pendant. I hope to acquire some nice golden citrine and make more soon!

May 2025: I had a request for the same design but with a light blue stone