Please ID This Cat

Kitty mug shots: Viking Epic (left), UNSUB (right)

I know almost nothing about collectible glassware. So I was easily duped when I bought what I thought was a Viking Epic glass cat last month for my sister’s collection of feline figurines. In the photo her cat is the one on the right. She likes the latest addition to her cat family, but I’m left wondering what I did buy.

Last winter I got hooked on the History Channel’s hit reality show Pawn Stars. It’s a blue-collar take on Antiques Roadshow with one big difference—money changes hands. I like the Las Vegas location, the parade of subject matter “experts,” and the interplay among the cast, which features three generations of the pawn-brokering Harrison family and their lovable but dumb-as-dirt friend Chumlee. Of course the best part is the endless array of cool stuff customers bring to the shop to pawn or sell. “Where do they find these people?” I wondered.

In April the Kitsap County Historical Society sponsored the Antique Appraisal Fair at the Kitsap Fairgrounds. The show included about 40 local dealers plus experts who would appraise your items for a small fee. Appointing myself as an assistant producer-in-training for Pawn Stars, I attended the show to see if I could sniff out a few items that might be interesting enough to feature on TV. I couldn’t, as it is harder than it seems, but that’s another story.

I was almost out the door, down only the $5 admission charge, when some glass cats on the back shelf of the last booth caught my eye. As I picked one up for a closer look, the dealer moved in for the kill. “That’s a Viking Epic cat, circa 1965,” he said, adding that they were exquisitely made and extremely collectible today. All of this was confirmed by a handwritten tag taped to the cat’s feet.

Like flavors of Jell-O the glass cats come in a range of colors. The dealer also had them in green and amber. He noted that the ruby cat—the one I was holding—was the rarest in the set. We bargained a bit before settling on a price. I paid in cash, got a generic receipt, and didn’t think to ask for a business card.

A couple of weeks later I flew to Del Mar to visit my dad and sister. “I have a gift for you,” I said. As she opened it, I repeated what the dealer told me. To see if there was more information available, we turned to the Internet. (Note to self: never use the Internet to publicly confirm something you’ve said without looking it up yourself first.)

Obviously her cat is not a Viking Epic. That’s clear from photos we found online. A snooty web site that describes the history of the epic cat offers to tell you how much they are worth if you take out an annual membership for $25. Rather than compounding the error I had already made, we declined. We did learn that the epic cats are 8 inches tall. Hers is about 2 inches shorter.

So what did I buy and why did the dealer say it was a Viking Epic? No idea. Fortunately, I’m not out a lot of money and it’s a neat cat. My sister likes the “circa 1965” date (assuming it’s true) because she was in high school then. She also likes the way you can see a swirling variety of colors when you hold the cat up to the light. So maybe there is something to the mystique of Viking Epic glass even if this one is a knockoff. I probably should have bought its green and amber littermates.