Cats Among Bamboo, Shen Chen-lin, Ch'ing dynasty, Hanging Scroll. The National Palace Museum, Taiwan

Shen Chen-lin, a Ch'ing dynasty court painter who specialized in figures and landscapes, once received a plaque from the Dowager Empress Tz'u-hsi that read, “From the marvelous hand of the imperial brush transmitting the spirit”. In this painting are three Siamese cats. The larger one is crouched on top of a garden rock next to bamboo looking down at two smaller cats (one white and the other yellow) playing on the grass below. The white cat looks like it is about to deal with the yellow cat nearby. All three cats wear tassels of red and golden bells for collars in a realistic description that seems to have been painted directly from life.