photograph of page from Islamic illuminated manuscript cited in post

close up of the black cat illustration framed off from text in center of page, smiling and sitting in side profile amongst foliage & flowers drawn in gold

photo of gallery label “Black Cat Tercüme-yi 'Aca'ib ül-mahlukat (Turkish Version of the Wonders of Creation) Author: Zakariya ibn Muhammad Qazwini (1203-1283) Scribe: Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-'i Nathani محمد بن محمد شاكر روزمه ناثاني Türkiye, 1121 AH / 1717 CE Ink, paint, and gold on European laid paper Counted here among the "Wonders of Creation," cats were admired for their cleanliness and cherished throughout the Islamic world. The Prophet Mohammed encouraged compassion toward cats, and several Islamic rulers put special measures in place to care for them, such as Mamluk sultan Al-Zahir Baybars, who established "cat gardens" that provided food and shelter in 13th-century Cairo. Acquired by Henry Walters, before 1931, acc. no. W.659, fols. 104b-105a”