Cats
and a blue-eyed white was looked upon as a rarity. Now blue eyes have it all their own
way." Occasionally green-eyed White Persians turned up, hinting at Russian Angora ancestry.
Imported longhairs (probably then of Angora type) were considered better quality than
British-bred cats: "the most perfect type of a white Persian is assuredly to be found amongst
the imported cats; there is a certain beauty of form and silkiness of fur which is not possessed
by the specimens bred in this country [...] These imported cats are often of a rather savage
disposition, and, although they can be sweet-tempered enough with human beings, they are
extremely fiery with their fellows."
Angora cat by J B Huet, 1808 "Collection des
Mammiferes de Museum d'Histoire Naturelle"
(Paris)
Weir's idealised longhair, 1889
annaabi.ee 
