Lot #213: Scarce C.1920 "Lucky Haw Haw" Signed Louis Wain Ceramic Cat Spill Vase

Fine Sound Clean Intact No Chips, Damage, Loss Or Repairs 5” X 3.5”X 2” Louis Wain’S Love Of Cats Was Inspired By Personal Tragedy. His Wife, Emily Richardson, Had Become Ill Soon After Their Marriage In 1883 And Louis Began Drawing Their Cat, Peter, To Help To Cheer Her Up. These Drawings Brought Emily Great Happiness And She Encouraged Her Husband To Publish Them. Sadly She Died Before She Could Celebrate The Great Successes Of His Career, In January 1887. Wain Later Said Of Peter, Who Had Been A Stray, ‘To Him, Properly, Belongs The Foundation Of My Career, The Developments Of My Initial Efforts, And The Establishing Of My Work.’ Sadly, Despite His Productivity, Wain Made Errors Of Judgement When It Came To Protecting His Own Financial Interests. He Often Sold His Drawings Outright, Allowing Them To Be Reproduced Without Earning A Penny. Despite The Continued Popularity Of His Work, He Struggled To Make Ends Meet While Supporting His Unmarried Sisters And Eventually Descended Into Poverty. Sadly, Wain Suffered With Mental Health Problems Throughout His Life And These Worsened After The Death Of His Wife. It Is Now Thought That He May Have Been Suffering From Schizophrenia As Well As Anxiety And Depression. Louis Wain’S Drawings Became More Abstract And Stylised Later In His Career, And Some Say This Is Evidence Of His Mental Health Problems. However, Others Argue That His Stylistic Drawings May Have Just Been The Result Of Experimentation, And We Should Not View Wain’S Personality And Mental Health Problems In Such A Simplistic Way. With His Mental Health Worsening, His Sisters Eventually Committed Him To The Pauper Ward Of Springfield Mental Hospital In Tooting, South London In 1924. His Return In The 1921 Census Shows Him Living With Three Of His Sisters In Willesden, Middlesex. His Occupation Is Listed As ’Artist’. A Nurse From The ’Neurological Hospital, Tooting’ Happened To Be Visiting The Family When The Census Was Taken, Three Years Before Louis Was Eventually Committed There. Https://Www.Nationalarchives.Gov.Uk/Explore-The-Collection/Stories/Louis-Wain/ Https://Www.Kinghamsauctioneers.Com/Auction/Lot/Lot-749---Louis-Wain-For-Max-Emanuel-And-Co-A-Lucky/?Lot7354&Amp;Sd1 Https://Collection.Powerhouse.Com.Au/Object/169003 Https://Www.Bonhams.Com/Auction/15302/Lot/198/Louis-Wain-The-Lucky-Haw-Haw-Cat-A-Pottery-Figural-Spill-Vase-Circa-1920/ Dimensions: 5” X 3.5”X 2” Pickup Category Timeslot {A}