Object details

Object number

ARC.004311

Creator(s)

Dodge MacKnight (Providence, 1860 - 1950, Sandwich, Massachusetts)

Title

Letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner from Cochin (Kotchan/Kowun) the Cat

Date

1913

Medium

Ink on paper

Object Case

Modern Painters And Sculptors Case

Language

English

Signatures, inscriptions, and markings

Marked in pencil (upper left corner): 54Dated in pencil in Morris Carter's hand (lower left): 1913?Stationery printed in red ink:風流李寶七小 /町？年町寺  [nonsense characters, comically intended to represent a cat's writing] /Translation by Th. Giukcam, Esq. /of the Fujiyama OservatoryDear Mrs. Gardner /Thank you, honorable mistress, for finding me /such a nice home where I get real thingsto eat instead of horrible canned goods. /I am well and fat and my hair is so /long that I must really go to the barber's /next week. Come down and see me — /I want to lick your hand —Merry Xmas. /Yours faithfully, /Cochin /1913? /alias Cloud, Cochon & Squinkly.

Commentary

This comical letter is written from the point-of-view of Cochin, a small white cat that Isabella Stewart Gardner initially gifted to Okakura Kakuzo. When Okakura returned to Japan in 1911, he was unable to take the cat with him, and left it in the care of artist Dodge Macknight (1860–1950). In this letter, Cochin the cat describes its new home to Isabella, and thanks her for finding a new owner who could provide “such a nice home where I get real things to eat instead of horrible canned goods,” and implores her to visit the pair. 

Gallery

Long Gallery

Bibliography

Rights and reproductions

The use of images, text, and all other media found on this website is limited. Please review Rights and Reproductions for details.