F. Faivre: "the Cat Transformed Into A Woman," Patinated Bronze Sculpture, Circa 1900

Ferdinand FAIVRE (1860–1937, France): “The Cat Transformed into a Woman”

Bronze sculpture with a nuanced brown patina depicting a reclining nude woman

Dimensions: Height 14 x Depth 11.5 x Width 27.5 cm

Early 20th century – Art Nouveau period (circa 1910)
Good condition

Note: Sculpture inspired by Jean de La Fontaine’s fable “The Cat Transformed into a Woman.”
This work is the eighteenth fable in Book II of the first collection of *La Fontaine’s Fables*, published in 1668:


“A man loved his cat madly,
He found her cute, beautiful, and delicate,
She meowed in a very sweet tone:
He was crazier than the craziest of men.
So this man, through prayers and tears,
through spells and charms,
did everything he could until he persuaded Fate
to turn his cat, one fine morning,
into a woman; and that very morning,
the foolish master made her his wife.
Now he is mad with extreme love,
Just as he had once been mad with friendship.
Never has the fairest lady
Charmed her lover so much
As this new wife
Charms her hypochondriac husband.
He coaxes her, she flatters him;
He no longer sees her as a cat at all,
And taking his delusion to its extreme,
Believes her to be a woman in every way and everywhere,
Until some mice gnawing at the mat
Disturbed the newlyweds’ pleasure.
At once the woman is on her feet.
She missed her chance.
Mice, come back; woman, get into position.
This time, she rushed in just in time;
For having changed her appearance,
The Mice feared her not at all.
This was always a lure to her,
So great is the power of nature.
It mocks everything once a certain age is reached.
The vessel is saturated; the fabric has taken its shape.
In vain do they try to wean him
from his usual ways.
No matter what one might do,
one could never reform him.
Neither blows with a pitchfork nor stirrups
Can make him change his ways;
And even if you were beaten with a stick,
You’ll never be his masters.
“If you shut the door in its face,
it will come back through the windows.”