Colour tattoo of a sitting cat built from paisley shapes and leafy lines, in teal, green and red, on the side of the ribs.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Paisley cat on the side ribs

Neo-trad · Ribs · Colour · Photo

A cat sits in profile, its head turned upward, with its body and tail formed from paisley motifs, scrolls, small flowers and leafy vine lines. The bold dark outlines are filled with teal, green, blue and white, with red and pale green accents along the edges. The design fills the frame on smooth skin, with a sliver of dark background visible at the right edge.

Neo-trad Ribs Cat Paisley Flower Leaves Vine Scroll

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nell,

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The shawl came back from the menders on Tuesday, and I have been sitting with it across my knees ever since, trying to decide whether the cat is looking at the bride or at the door. Your grandmother bought it in 1961 from a dealer off Cutler's Row who swore the paisley was woven in a village near Srinagar, though I never believed him. Whatever its origin, the cat has always sat on the cream border where the fringe begins, head lifted, as if it has heard a better party somewhere else.

Mr Okafor at the mender's said the teal thread had gone brittle and the green had bled into the white, so he re-dyed the whole corner by hand. He asked me what the animal was meant to be. I said a cat, then a fox, then a peacock, because I could not admit I had no idea. He laughed and said the leaves ran up its tail like vines on a garden wall, and that someone had cared very much about the stitching.

So wear it on Saturday. Drape it over your left shoulder, not your right, so the cat sits near your heart and faces out towards the guests. Let the fringe brush the back of your hand when you lift the glass. If anyone asks where it comes from, tell them it has been to two weddings already and has never once been late.

Love, Aunt Maud