Anna Marble-Pollock cat collection

The collection contains photographs and other visual materials, objects, papers, printed material, and sound recordings relating to cats, Anna Marble-Pollock, and Carl Van Vechten.

Photographs depict cats at home and outdoors, in art, and with human companions, including Marble-Pollock, Van Vechten, Leonor Fini, and Anna May Wong. Photographers include Van Vechten and Sanford Roth. Visual materials consist of pen and wash and pencil drawings, watercolor paintings, lithographs, etchings, engravings, color prints from woodblocks, printed ephemera, playing cards, postage stamps, a kakemono, and other works depicting cats. Among the artists present in the collection are Leonor Fini, Francisco Goya, Hiroshige, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Édouard Manet, Théophile Alexandre Steinman, and Florine Stettheimer. Objects and papers contain ceramic and porcelain cat figurines collected by Van Vechten; a ceramic sugar bowl; a brass door knocker; a wool blanket, neckties, and handkerchiefs; slate and Mercer tiles; a sterling silver bottle stopper; gold and silver brooches; calendars and greeting cards; and various cat-themed decorative items. Also included are a cat scratching post invented in the 1950s and cat show prize ribbons from 1908 and 1909. Other materials in the collection include index cards with bibliographic information and notes on works about cats, possibly used by Van Vechten for research; a set of miniature children's books by Dorothy Kunhardt titled Tiny Nonsense Stories; and three phonograph records with readings and music relating to cats.