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History of the Redpoint part 1 Europe
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One is never done writing about Siamese. Almost every year a new book is published about what is arguably the most famous pedigreed cat ever. For over a hundred years the Siamese has been bred world-wide. The Redpoint Siamese celebrates its 50th anniversary. Who is the person that would still say that Redpoint Siamese are not real Siamese! For those still in doubt, please allow me. |
By Henk Keers
Many myths and legends are
known about the Siamese. One of them tells Siamese originated in the Orient. The Siamese
gets its name from the country of origin, "Siam", now known as Thailand, a small
Oriental country. Of course there seems no other explanation than that such a fascinating,
even mystical cat originates from the Orient. Which genetical causes have led to the
Siamese are really not known, but the most beautiful legend of all tells how the Siamese
were first seen in the temples of Siam. These Sacred Siamese, as they were called, served
no particular religious purpose, but were merely adored as pets by the monks. Another
legend tells how the poor inhabitants of Siam would sometimes take some of these Sacred
Siamese from the temples and then wait patiently to see if they would bring fortune. In
the beginning it was assumed that Siamese were only available to the wealthy. 
Generally
speaking it is assumed that the Siamese originated in a province of Thailand called
Khorat. There are two types of oriental cat there. The Siamese, described as a
creamcoloured cat with a dark brown mask, ears, legs, tail and other spots. Their original
name is Dok Lao. The other is the Khorat, called Si Sawat. This is described as a
silver-grey cat with yellow eyes. Natural crossbreeding resulted in a mutation that bears
close resemblance to the Burmese; deep brown colouring and yellow eyes. There is no
specific mention of red cats in Siam. I wouldn't be surprised if there were. Where in this
world is red not found? Free trade has ensured its presence on all continents through the
centuries. Wouldn't a red ship's cat have tried its luck in the Orient? The existence of
the different colours is reasonably explained with this story. The first Siamese that came
to England in 1884 already carried natural dilution such as chocolate and blue.
Standard
There is no accounting for taste. An old saying that still holds water. The one likes the round, somewhat old-fashioned Siamese type, the other likes the slimmer, more muscular model. The drive towards rationalisation and unification in our time had its consequences for the cat world. A standard was established with which breeds and varieties could be differentiated. Breeders strive towards equalling that that standard to produce the ideal cat, so that they can present it to the judge's verdict at shows. These are the people that, after a more or less rigorous preparation and a successful exam, have to interpret the standard to the best of their knowledge. Unfortunately the choices of the judging corps shows variation. Personal taste, affinity and experience play their role in that. For some the development of the modern Siamese has gone too fast. In my mind, that is a development that is detrimental to the breedgroup. The standard warrants little discussion. It consists of a book with rules that have been put together by an elite group and have been accepted at a meeting of an umbrella organisation. That is good, I hear you say. Everywhere in the world the same rules are used. If only that were true! Every self-respecting organisation has its own standard. The standard can be interpreted in many different ways, it is all a matter of taste. The discussion about this has no place in this context and should you wish to know more, I refer you to your association.
What is a Siamese.
The fact remains that every true catlover that has had the privilege of owning a Siamese becomes aware very quickly that they could never do without again. I do feel that the character of person and Siamese should be in synch at least a little. It is an interaction between human and cat. Either you love them, or you hate them. An extreme that is found within the Siamese itself. A true Siamese is curious and full of action. It likes to lay down the law and is always in search of new challenges. It loves to eat, has a big mouth and has to have the last word. He is an accomplished lover, she is an excellent mother. When we talk about the Siamese, we immediately think of a mediumsized, elegant, muscular cat with an distinguished head and whiptail. The eyes are sapphireblue and the points are dark-brown. The Sealpoint Siamese was the most popular cat in the catfancy for a long time. Not only for catlovers, but also for breeders that quickly realised the Siamese was a cat that could stand experimenting. New varieties such as Colourpoints, Sacred Birmans, Si-Rexes, British Shorthair Colourpoints and several other "..ese" were quickly added to the assortment of cats in existence.
Many breeders saw it as a challenge to develop new colour after new colour from the Sealpoints. Gradually there appeared the Bluepoints, Chocolatepoints and Lilacpoint Siamese. Shortly after the war the Red- and Tortiepoints appeared. The Red was the predecessor of many of the new colours we know today. And I must add that in 1934 at the "Siamese Cat Show", two Redpoint males were shown. They were the result of a breeding between a Tortiepoint Siamese and a Sealpoint male owned by Mary Dunnill. The Tortiepoint was born from a combination of the Sealpoint male "Bonzo" and a Tortie (probably a domestic shorthair), ancestry unknown, of course. Obviously these cats were not taken seriously as Siamese and these lines were never expanded.
How a small nation can achieve greatness
Our current Redlines are all the result of the breeding programmes started in 1947 in the US and in 1948 in the UK. Mrs. A. de Filippo, whom we know from the famous Sundust cattery, laid the foundations for Redbreeding in the US. In South Africa this may have been Mrs. Fitchet (cattery Rowsley), but more about this in part 2 of the History of the Redpoint.
Less well known is the fact that Belgium, but also the Netherlands, have their own Red-history. Belgian John Valentijn (Du Fond Roy cattery), started a Redline with a queen he received to that end from the Dutchman Kik van Eijsden (Cyprinushoeve cattery). John Valentijn and his wife Muriel had had a chance to admire the first Redpoints in the UK in person. John was so fascinated by the red colour that he decided to get to know more. As he studied Red, he realised that no one on the continent had ever bred a Redpoint. There wasn't even anyone interested in it. The thought that he might be the first to breed a Redpoint on the continent made him start his own Redline. Unfortunately for John, he did not breed the first Redpoint. According to my data Kathleen Jacks, an American living in Germany, had bred the first Redpoint in 1960 with the use of English bloodlines.
John started his breeding programme in 1965 using a Tortoiseshell and white named Si-Deng van de Cyprinushoeve which was given to him by his good friend Kik van Eijsden to this end. Si-Deng's dam was half Siamese, grandmother Mon Tjao had a pure Siamese pedigree. The sire was an European Shorthair. How Kik obtained this Tortie is not quite clear, since they concentrated on Seal and Chocolatepoints. Further research indicates that the Van Eijsden family did not keep accurate records or exercise strict control. Apart from Siamese they also had Abesinians and European Shorthairs. John had Si-Deng bred by his Sealpoint male Fafner von Avalun. After they had had two litters with a total of twelve kittens, John began to doubt whether Si-Deng had actually inherited a Siamese factor. He decided to continue with kittens from the second litter, since he was sure they would carry the sought after Siamese gene. The second litter of Si-Deng, born 24th of October 196? contained 3 tortie females and 3 Red tabby males. The three males were placed with the strict condition that they could not be castrated so that he could mate them to his Sealpoint queens. Two of the three girls were placed under similar conditions, they would be bred back to their father Fafner von Avalun. When the time came, no one had stuck to the agreement. The three males had all been castrated. The one he described as the best typed cat had even been killed by a car. John was very disappointed about this. The tortie female, Oex-Vingh-Fa-Tohtiwi du Fond Roy, he had kept and he bred her to Fafner von Avalun. But despite many tries, this combination never worked. The only female that Fafner couldn't get pregnant, as John said. With litter sister Puff-Exfa-Tri du Fond Roy, the only cat where the host had stuck to the agreement, did become pregnant. Puff had a litter of 7 kittens on the 14th of April 1967. Amongst them three Redpoint Siamese which he called Quara, Quing and Quong Redfa du fond Roy. This last cat, being the best of the litter, was sent to Kik van Eijsden together with a Tortie from the same combination. Quong was even advertised as stud for a while. But I have not been able to find any trace of breeding from this cat. Kik even got a beautiful red girl from England. I wonder what went wrong there. John kept Quing, with which he bred a few litters. He was, however, beginning to get worried about the percentage of inbreeding and went looking for alternatives. At a show in Germany he met Kathleen Jacks. This American was working with Red too, but from English lines. He hoped to obtain a male from her. As far as I know, he has never got one. John and his wife bred for a while with the Redpoints Quing and Sivah du Fond Roy, of which Sirocco Redki du Fond Roy achieved International Champion. This line is found regularly in France, especially with Madame Roche Roger (cattery de la Valle Heureuse).
From the choice of words we can read that Val Prentis may not have been sure of herself. More often Redpoints will have been born accidentally, but the fact remains that John Valentijn was not given the credit he deserves as a pioneer on this hard road. His is the honour of being the first to breed purposely and knowledgeably, independent of UK lines, a Redpoint on the continent.
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The UK version All his accessories are a beautiful, glowing golden red; his eyes are blue, his coat is pale; he is completely and absolutely a Siamese.
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Phylys Launder describes the Redpoint Somerville Golden Perigrine in one of her books almost lyrically. A successful example of a well thought out breeding programme. Dr. Nora Archer bought a Redpoint male from Mrs. Lucy Price (Devoran cattery), who she called Sommerville Scarlet Pimpernel". Pimpernel was born on February 17th, 1949. His father was the Sealpoint Siamese Yewtree Yaanto, born 14-05-1945 and bred by Mrs. Gordon. His mother "Amanda" was a cross between a Sealpoint female "Devoran Sally Girl", born 14-06-1945 and a Red European Shorthair of unknown origin. An "OOPS"-breeding, with in retrospect an enormous importance to Redbreeders of today. "Somerville Scarlet Pimpernel" was mated to a Sealpoint female called Doneraile Dew, bred by Mrs. Williams. From this combination the Tortiepoint "Sommerville Harlequinna" was born on 09-03-1950. She was mated to her father with as a result the first Redpoint females "Somerville Golden Seal" and "Somerville Golden Miranda". Dr. Nora Archer mated the girls to Sealpoints to improve the type.
It was Miss Ann Ray (Penarwyn cattery), who managed to achieve five generations of Redpoint to Redpoint with "Somerville Carial Del" of Dr. Nora Archer, by practising inbreeding. After that she applied for recognition with the GCCF, this was refused. They were only prepared to give her cats the status of "Foreign Shorthair". Ann Ray and her supporters found this unacceptable. They were convinced that with by now ten generations of pure Redpoint x Redpoint the Siamese type and eyecolour were genetically fixed and it should be recognised as a new variety of Siamese.
Which breed number with which colour, 32, 32a or 32c?
Eventually the Redpoints were recognised by the GCCF in 1966, with breed number 32a. The Seal Tortiepoint with number 32b and the Blue, Chocolate, Lilactortie, Tortie-Tabbypoint and Creampoints with number 32c. This is the reason that we still find Tortiepoints and Tortie-tabbypoints on pedigrees with breed number 32c. In February of 1971 all Tortiepoints, new standard and all, were combined in breed number 32b. In October of 1973 the Tortietabbies were recognised with number 32. In June of 1977 the last of them, the Creampoint, was recognised with number 32c. In those days, the FIFe followed GCCF to the letter. The first Redpoint Siamese to achieve Championship was "Pitapat Zeno". The first Tortiepoint Champion was "Rivendell Apache" of Mrs. Summer. At the 24th Siamese Cat Club Championship Show of 1972 a Redpoint became Best Siamese: Mrs. Rimmer's "Darling Dream Angus", bred by Mrs. George.
Red in The Netherlands from English lines
The first Redpoint Siamese in The Netherlands was a female called "Pitapat Orange Blossom", who was imported by Frans Akkerman (cattery Yearsley Abbas), from the UK and exhibited for the first time in 1969. Later he also obtained the Redpoint male "Kernow Red Vin". Stephe and Jan Bruin imported the first Tortiepoint, Kernow Thani 32b/1. These descendants of Somerville Scarlet Pimpernel can be found in almost all Dutch Redpoint pedigrees. Through Germany Maria Falkena brought the Redpoint Feuersturm von Eichenborn to The Netherlands. This male can also be found in many redlines, but can ultimately be traced back to the first Redpoint Somerville Scarlet Pimpernel through his mother, "Asuni Ang Chooi". Recently I had the pleasure of Siau Tsj'oe Red Crusader obtaining the title of World Winner 1996. He became the first Redpoint in FIFe with this title (WW). Siau Tsj'oe Cream Applejack is the first Creampoint Siamese in Fife in The Netherlands to achieve European Championship. Crusader and Applejack are both descendants of Pimpernel!
Like a Pink Panther
The similarity is striking. I'm sure one was the model when this famous cartoon character was born. More and more breeders are involved in Red, and that is no wonder. The Reds do well at shows. Through selective breeding Reds have been amongst the best Siamese for years. Regularly the breeders of the black colours use Red to improve type. Well bred Reds have a deep points colour that contrasts elegantly with the light cream body. And what to think of the beautiful, almost powdery icy cream colour of the Creampoint? And don't forget Oriental Red. Some breeders have achieved virtual barlessness. And take Torties. Many people don't like Torties, but why not? Torties are more Siamese than a Siamese. Obviously the combination of genetic black and red gives the cat a higher spirit. I call it genetic improvement. Torties look like clowns and behave as such. Some have a beautifully even distribution of colour and the typical white v. Add to that the perfect muscular body and a Roman profile, isn't that the stuff dreams are made of? Breeding Torties is like a Magical Mystery Tour. There are all kinds of colours in the litters. Can you imagine a more fun and more varied litter? Often people ask if the character of the Redpoint is different. My answer is always "different to what"? As with humans, there is no such thing as a uniform character. Each individual is different. The Redpoint is no exception and is no different from other Siamese. In my experience they can be somewhat clumsy, but they can be perceived as incredibly intelligent as well. And of course, the breeder has an enormous influence on socialising the kittens and whether or not you have the patience to understand the Siamese in question. If a Siamese likes you, he'll show it. And if he doesn't, he'll show that too. A Redpoint is a Siamese of extremes. He gives you that feeling that you must be a very special person to be allowed to take care of him and call yourself his owner. You can't stop talking about him. He can best be compared to an incredibly spoiled child with doglike qualities. I'm in love with him!
Not always. Tortie males sometimes appear and some of them can provide us with progeny. Such a male has the genetic pattern of XXY or XXXY instead of XY. Despite the abundance of female chromosomes it can be fertile, a small genetic miracle! One of these males is Ch. & Pr. "Marilane Harlequin" SIA f (32b/1), born 14-01-1980. Harlequin was bred to Marilane Patchouli SIA g (32b/2). Sun Marilane Pimpernel SIA d (32a), birthdate 25-04-1988 and granddaughter Marilane Juniper SIA d (32a) born 29-03-1989 were shown together with "Harlequin" at the first Breed 32 Cat Association" Championship show, held on May 25th 1991. in Edmonton, UK. "Marilane Pimpernel" was even in The Siamese Association Studlist 1990. Of recent date is Ch. Vegas von Al Baida 25-05-1991, bred by Theres Walter. So never say never. But a Tortie male is still an exception!
The inheritance mode of red
Many are not aware that there are only two colours in genetics. For clarity's sake I'm leaving out white. Best known is black and the colours derived from that that like blue, chocolate, lilac and recently cinnamon and fawn. The other colour is red. The other colour is red. Red also has its dilution’s, cream and apricot.
The sexe-determining pair of chromosomes for the female is XX, while that of the male is XY. The Y-chromosome develops the male characteristics within the ovum. As all chromosomes, sexe-determining chromosomes also carry genes.
Since we are speaking about sexe-determining chromosomes, this implies directly that the inheritance mode of the genes of these chromosomes are sex-linked. With red it is the mutation that causes the orange-red pigment "phaeomelanine" The genetic symbol is "O". The "O"-gene is on the X chromosome, which determines colour. The Y-chromosome is smaller and therefore does not carry an equal gene. Therefore we speak of two genotypes, namely the male animal which has only one X-chromosome and therefore can be red (O) or non-red, which is indicated with the symbol (o). The female animal however has more interesting possibilities, namely "OO" (red-red), the symbol for a phenotypically red female "Oo" (red-non-red) gives a phenotypical tortie female. Or "oo" (non-red), which we can observe as a black female. The red female "OO" is homozygous and the tortie female is Heterozygous. The Tortie is unique in that her coat is under the influence of both the "O" and the "o" gene. This explains the colour distribution. From this we can surmise that the female decides whether the colour will be red or non-red!
I have mentioned it before: "phaeomelanine". How does this pigment work? A biochemical process removes black and all its dilution’s from the hair structure. This gives us a lighter pigment which we see as red. In other words, eumelanine (black, brown, blue, lilac) becomes phaeomelanine (orangered). Another feature with a red coat is that agouti (A) and non-agouti (a) cats are phenotypically identical. This is called epistasis. In red cats the black pigment, or dilution’s of it, are changed to red. The non-agouti gene (a) only works on cats with a black (non-red) pigmentation. This explains why cats with red hairs always show an agouti pattern.
Another hard to ignore, more difficult to manipulate group of genes are the modifiers, better known as polygenes. They are responsible for the deep red colour. By careful selection of males and females the colour can be intensified. But chocolate based Redpoints also have a warmer, more intense points colour.
Redpoints, how to go now
I assume that the above explanation is clear. I'm often approached by people who want to start breeding red. Some have studied the matter, others haven't yet. But they share something. Their enthusiasm for the Redpoint! Beginners are always enthusiastic and that is how it should be. The best ideas are based on an ideological thought which is fed by a large dose of enthusiasm. Often we hear beginners say that they are going to breed a barless Redpoint with as much contrast in the points as a Sealpoint. I'd be the last to dampen this noble thought, but genetically speaking this is not possible. Some have less barring, but often they have no colour on the legs, which the standard does call for. As explained, the red non-agouti cat is phenotypically identical to a red agouti cat. This justifies the fact that we can compare red cats with black agouti cats. Take a good look at the legs of a Seal Tabbypoint. They don't have the full colouring of for instance the Sealpoint. There are many tricks to approach barless red, for instance by breeding in the Abyssinian ticking. The colour with this type of ticking is at the top of the hair, which creates the illusion of a deeper colour without agouti markings. Especially in the Oriental selfcoloured cats this theory has been proven to be successful in practice. With longhairs the sharp rich tabbypattern is veiled by the long hairs which don't lie in a pattern, which makes it seem as if there are very few agouti markings present. But legs, head and tail will always betray the agouti markings. True barless red remains an illusion!
I'm disappointed by the abuse of the Redpoint. More and more we see other colourgenes bred into the Redpoint. For instance a pigment inhibitor such as the silver gene (I). I wonder what purpose this serves! It makes the points cold and less intense. Something a serious redbreeder would try to avoid!. Often these cats are shown as Creampoint and unfortunately many judges, despite their training, cannot recognise a true Creampoint. When the pedigree of such an animal is studied, it often shows that the cat is really a badly coloured Redpoint. Because of the hidden inheritance mode of silver, this is a detrimental development for Redbreeding.
Another problem in some Redpoints is coatlength. Judges are always quite lenient in their judgement. The coatstructure of a Siamese is very specific, short and close lying. By breeding new varieties and using other breeds, apart from good characteristics some bad characteristics are brought into the breed. With the Redpoint the longer coat is a leftover form the origins of the breed, where red European Shorthairs were used to obtain the red colour. Since the Redpoint base has always been narrow, the same lines were used all the time, so that the influence of the longhair gene could not be effectively bred out. Breeding out a long coat often takes ten or more generations. Nowadays a long coat in a Red or Creampoint is not necessary. After almost 50 years of breeding it is about time to conform to the standard. A coat that is too long is a fault, just like in the Sealpoint!
Another peculiarity are the freckles. Sooner or later, but usually around the age of 1 1/2 or 2 every Redpoint gets freckles. Usually in the mouth, on the nose, soles and the ears. As they age they increase and the colour intensifies. At shows this may not be deemed a fault. The cause of this is not known. Perhaps it has something to do with epistasis or the inhibiting of phaeomelanine, perhaps in relation to the agouti gene. The fact is that the colour of the freckles shows the basic colour of the Redpoint. If they are black, then it is Seal based, if they are brown, it is Chocolate based. For those that breed Redpoints, these base colours can be recognised by the colours of the kittens. A subject for geneticists to ponder!
Regularly we are confronted with the fact that a cat is discovered to be a genetic Red Tabbypoint instead of a Redpoint. This has as a consequence that titles may be lost, but also that kittens have been sold with the idea that they were Redpoints. It is still possible in Fife to register Redpoint kittens where one of the parents is a tabby! With the Orientals the confusion is also more rule than exception. The agouti markings cause them to be registered for shows as spotted or mackerel, whilst they are genetic red. If you read their pedigree, many mistakes can be found. I frequently see tabby offspring from genetically red parents! A mistake that seems to be covered up with a lot of written foolishness. It would be much simpler to copy the GCCF rule. They say: a red kitten of which one of the parents is registered as a genetic tabby, is automatically registered as a Red Tabbypoint. until its offspring proves it to be a genetic Redpoint.
The Tortie also has its own problems. The Tortie pattern cannot be influenced by breeders. Some things you don't think up, some things just happen. The points of a Tortie have to be broken. Even if there is only one spot, the point is broken. An inverted v is preferable, but not necessary. But does the average judge know that? A tortie has to be judged with great exactness and knowledge. An inverted v can make the cat appear to have a better or worse profile than it actually does. The same goes for the chin. If it is dull red or cream, it seems weak or short. If it is black, it can seem deep and strong.
Finally
It is with great pleasure that I have observed that Redpoint breeding is expanding again. I'm very please that the number of serious red breeders is being added to more and more. This causes me to be optimistic with regards to the future. In this sense it is notable that at the Siamese Show in Asperen (NL) in October 1995 there were 4 red Siamese in the Best in Show election. With the Independent associations a Redpoint was declared Best Siamese. Even the better-known breeders that up until now only concerned themselves with the classic colours are busily looking to obtain red breeding material or already own it! So never say never. Nothing is more fickle than humans, and especially catbreeders. Grading-up matings outside the colour to take the variety to a better quality are hardly necessary anymore. After 50 years the Redpoint Siamese is no longer an experiment. He is a welcome guest at the shows where more and more it presents itself as a worthy ambassador for the Oriental breedgroup. It behoves us to acknowledge the Redpoint pioneers. After a long road they have made the Redpoint into what it is today. They have paved the way for those that picked up where they left off to perfect the Redpoint. The task for Redpoint breeders of today is to breed that perfect Redpoint. Maybe, eventually, according to a standard they have developed themselves.
Perhaps the ultimate challenge!
