Black and grey realism tattoo of a cat in a top hat, monocle and bow tie inside a beaded oval frame on the upper arm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Cat in top hat and monocle in a frame

Realism · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A cat wearing a top hat, monocle and bow tie is shown in a bust portrait inside an ornate oval frame with a beaded border and jewelled corner details. The fur, whiskers and fabric of the jacket are rendered with soft, detailed shading and fine stippling. The design is entirely black and grey and fills the frame of the photo on a limb with the background softly out of focus.

Realism Upper arm Cat Top hat Monocle Bow tie Frame Portrait Jacket

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Tuesday, 14th March. Mr Ferris has finally agreed to the frame, though he insists the bow tie sit a half-inch higher, as though Sir Ambrose Tibbs could be made to care about such things. I am the seamstress who mends the costumes for the Marlow Ballroom across the road, so I know the cat by sight. Each morning he lets himself into the back room of the shop through the coal hatch, top hat already on his head, and sits with the air of a man attending his own funeral.

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The monocle was the difficulty. Mr Ferris borrowed it from the wardrobe of the old bandmaster, and it is heavy brass on a chain that wants to tangle in the whiskers. Tibbs would not hold still for it. He stared at the glass as if it owed him money, and then, when the afternoon light came through the window just so, he gave a look so disdainful and so wise that Mr Ferris set down his pencil and laughed until he had to wipe his eyes. The fur took two days of stippling, dot by dot, until it looked soft enough that you might lean in and hear it purr.

The portrait is finished. Ferris has set it in the oval frame with the beaded border and the jewelled corners, and it hangs now above the cloakroom bench where the dancers can see it on their way out. Tibbs has taken to sitting on that bench beneath it every Saturday, as if guarding the coats. Last night I found a single silver sixpence on the floorboards in front of him, which I suspect was his fee. I have decided to accept it on his behalf.