Skip to content

The Cat and Venus; Mice in Council

Crane, Walter, 1900, Publisher's print
The Cat and Venus; Mice in Council
The Cat and Venus; Mice in Council
The Cat and Venus; Mice in Council
Share
Category
Library Item
Item no
40080
Title
The Cat and Venus; Mice in Council. Illustrated pages from 'Baby's Own Aesop'
Description
A man holding a cat looks up at a woman with flowing hair and a flowing gown standing above him. To her right behind a curtain, a half-woman half-cat is hunched over in bed as a mouse runs across the covers. Scallop shapes predominate in the furnishings, clothing and decorative motifs.
In the picture in the bottom right of the page, a single mouse is lit up holding a bell on a chain, while more mice and shadows gather round it in a variety of poses. The rhymes read:
"The Cat and Venus

"Might his cat be a woman," he said:
Venus changed her: the couple were wed:
But a mouse in her sight
metamorphosed her quite,
And, for bride, a cat found he instead.

Nature will out.

Mice in Council

Against cat sat a council of mice.
Every mouse came out prompt with advice;
And a bell on cat's throat
Would have met a round vote,
Had the bell-hanger not been so nice.

The best policy often turns on an if."
Artist / maker
Date
1900
Size
17.8 x 18.8 cm
Location
Art and Design Library
Rights and purchasing
Option
Price
Digital FileElectronic file 72 dpi JPEG​
£7.32(inc. VAT 20%)
Digital FileElectronic File 300 dpi TIFF​
£37.20(inc. VAT 20%)
You can view and use digital images for personal and educational use. For more information, read our policy on image use. If you wish to use our images for commercial use, please contact us.