THE KATZENCLAVIER AND THE CATS WHO MADE IT SING
THE KATZENCLAVIER AND THE CAT’S WHO MADE IT SING is an 8x6 signed print on heavy paper. The background was made with vintage sheet music and an etching.
I appropriated a portion of the sheet music a novelty piano solo by Henry Jente arranged for roaring twenty cats of the hip kind. It was published in 1922.
“The Cat’s Pajamas” song title comes from flapper slang popular in the 1920s. It was very high praise for a person, place, or thing. Like the modern day “snatched,” “dripped ,” or “slay.”
The cats are from a 19th century etching I colored and adapted for the bottom part of the print. It shows a katzenclavier, a 16th century instrument that used live cats who were put in cages arranged next to each other according to the pitch of their mews. To cause the meows, their tails were placed under piano keys with sharp nails. When stuck, the key…well, you can imagine. Oh, oh St. PETA!
The instrument was first used in a parade in Brussels in 1549. King Phillip of Spain was there. So were dancing bears. The fresh bottle of milk is a gift of repentance for the poor put upon kitties. #katzenclavier #cats #feline #kitten #catspajamas #noveltypiano #peta #peterketchum
I appropriated a portion of the sheet music a novelty piano solo by Henry Jente arranged for roaring twenty cats of the hip kind. It was published in 1922.
“The Cat’s Pajamas” song title comes from flapper slang popular in the 1920s. It was very high praise for a person, place, or thing. Like the modern day “snatched,” “dripped ,” or “slay.”
The cats are from a 19th century etching I colored and adapted for the bottom part of the print. It shows a katzenclavier, a 16th century instrument that used live cats who were put in cages arranged next to each other according to the pitch of their mews. To cause the meows, their tails were placed under piano keys with sharp nails. When stuck, the key…well, you can imagine. Oh, oh St. PETA!
The instrument was first used in a parade in Brussels in 1549. King Phillip of Spain was there. So were dancing bears. The fresh bottle of milk is a gift of repentance for the poor put upon kitties. #katzenclavier #cats #feline #kitten #catspajamas #noveltypiano #peta #peterketchum