Maisie Seneshall's cat artwork on display and now for sale at Studio Six on Dawes Road. PICTURE: MORGAN PHILLIPS
By Morgan Phillips
A huge collection of vintage cat-themed art has been discovered in two dusty chests in the basement of a Fulham art studio.
Cat lovers have been making a fee-line to Studio Six in Fulham for half a century, enchanted by its array of porcelain cats... some appearing to climb up the shop’s distinctive façade in Dawes Road.
Back in 1960 it was established as the studio of artist and sculptor Maisie Seneshall, who immortalised generations of Fulham residents’ pets in watercolour, ink and clay.
Then it passed to Mandy Scott, who inherited all the equipment and moulds to keep the tradition alive.
Mandy’s brother Ken recently discovered and opened two heavy cases in the studio basement, untouched since Maisie Seneshall’s death, and was staggered to find hundreds of sketches, paintings, ceramic tiles and porcelain figures, almost all of cats.
As a tribute to Maisie, who inspired Ken to take up pottery and who sometimes regretted that her work was only available to the well-heeled, Ken has decided to sell off the whole lot individually at modest prices, typically £10 for a small framed original, so a wider audience can appreciate her creative skills.
Thinking ahead to Christmas, they are ideal stocking fillers, and celebrate an intriguing part of Fulham’s artistic history. The purrfect present!
Studio Six is at 6 Royal Parade, Dawes Road, SW6 7RE (at the Munster Road end). 020 7385 1165.
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