Large Japanese maneki-neko, hand-cast and hand-painted in Seto, Japan, by a family-run ceramics workshop established in 1951. Each figure is individually hand-painted, making every cat unique.

• A large hand-cast black lucky cat, one of this workshop's biggest maneki-neko figures at nearly 18cm tall
• A large lucky cat finished white with black patches and red-tipped ears — the classic three-colour "mike-neko" look
• Left paw raised — traditionally said to invite people and good company, rather than money
• Dressed in a pleated bib (maedare) of alternating red and navy panels, each stamped with a small white flower, hung from a green collar banded in gold
• Hand-cast and hand-painted in Seto, Japan, by a family-run ceramics workshop making these by hand since 1951
• Each piece hand-painted freehand, so no two cats are ever quite identical

This cat wears history, not just decoration: dressing a pet cat in a collar, a pleated bib, and a bell was how wealthy Edo-period merchant households showed off a well-kept animal — cats were expensive to keep well, so a dressed cat was a visible sign of prosperity. That same collar-and-bib styling carried straight over onto the earliest maneki-neko figures; some older ones even carried a bell on the collar before the coin motif became standard.

Seto has served as a major Japanese pottery centre since the Heian period and was historically the sole domestic producer of glazed ceramics — making "setomono" the standard Japanese word for pottery. Since the late 1800s, Seto's artisans have applied their expertise to ceramic dolls and figures using traditional methods: plaster mould casting, firing, and freehand hand-painting.

Material: Ceramic
Size: 17.8 x 9.2 x 10.4 cm
Paw: Left paw raised
Origin: Seto, Japan