Your Cat — November 2017

http://www.yourcat.co.uk 63

Did you

know?

Keep up with Oswald’s

gallery life by following

@Smithsupercat

on Facebook

and Twitter.

love to see

him, and if it’s

a bit cold in the

winter, he’ll go

into his old summer

house and curl up. He

gets about a bit!”

During the day, Oswald can

be found around the gallery

greeting his adoring public.

You’ll probably stumble across

him (sometimes literally!), as

his favourite place is in the

entrance hall.

“He likes to lie in the middle

of the gallery floor, so that it’s

almost like he’s saying: ‘None

shall pass without giving me

a fuss first!’” says Michael.

“He’ll greet people as they

come in and will have a good

scratch on the older carpet, as

it’s quite coarse and he can’t

damage it.”

When he’s not positioning

himself in optimum fuss

positions, Oswald can often

be found leading tour groups

around the museum and

gallery. Of course, any new

exhibits in the gallery have to

meet his approval first. He also

enjoys posing next to (or even

on top of!) the displays.

He is a big hit with the

whole community as

a result of his curatorial

purr-suits — members of local

art groups always give him

plenty of fuss, and he has even

rubbed shoulders with SMPs

who have paid a visit.

WORLDWIDE

FANBASE

Oswald’s main claim to fame

was during an exhibition of

Leonardo da Vinci’s work,

which was opened by Her

Majesty The Queen.

As staff were dealing

with such valuable and

delicate works of art, the

environment had to be

carefully controlled with

dark conditions; no bags

or coats were allowed in

the room.

Yet visitors were

confronted with the

sight of Oswald’s bright

white tummy glowing

in the middle of the

room. He’d decided to

be the first one to see

the exhibition, and had

draped himself across

the floor on his back!

He has also attracted

attention from all over the

world, in particular Japan

and Russia, where he’s

been the subject of his own

documentary on the countries’

dedicated cat TV channels.

“He loves catnip, so we used

it during filming to get him to

pose in certain places, but if

we gave him too much, he’d

fall asleep!” laughs Michael.

“He’s very popular with

Japanese tourists; cats are

a big part of their culture and

they love him.”

The Stirling Smith may be

popular for its many works

of art, but it also gets many

visitors who turn up just to

see Oswald, who now has over

1,000 followers on Twitter and

Facebook. On one occasion,

a bus full of Japanese tourists

arrived, having persuaded

their driver to take a detour to

meet the gallery cat.

Michael says that, on the

whole, Oswald is a very

professional member of

staff and takes his role at

the museum very seriously,

welcoming visitors warmly

— that is, unless a canine

visitor happens to pass by,

in which case he stares them

down so they know to give

him a wide berth! —

whole community as wh

Ma

A

wi

de

en

ca

da

o

th

c

s

w

Oswald likes to

investigate the exhibits.

Oswald guards

the world’s

oldest football.

ABOUT THE STIRLING SMITH

The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum

in Stirling, Scotland, was founded in 1874

at the request of artist Thomas Stuart

Smith. It was established as a gallery of

mostly contemporary art, with a museum

and library, and today boasts a wide

array of historical artefacts and paintings.

One of the museum’s most notable

articles is the world’s oldest football, which

was found lodged in the rafters of the

Queen’s Chamber in Stirling Castle, and

dates back to the 1540s.

62-63 YC Working Cats CS CC.indd 63 28/09/2017 13:31