Hold on to your hats, cat-loving connoisseurs of mid-century modern design! Here’s something you don’t see everyday! It’s a vintage cat house designed by the office of none other than Frank Lloyd Wright. This pieces was designed for the daughter of Gerald Tonkens, for whom Frank Lloyd Wright designed a residence in Amberley Village, Ohio in 1955.

The original drawing of the cat house, ‘Felis Catus’, was completed by Thomas Olson, the site supervisor for the project. Apparently, Mr. Wright described the design to Mr. Olson over the phone, which is why the design is credited to the Office of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Both the original house and the drawing are currently available for sale on 1stDibs.com for — are you ready for this??? — $14,500.

Thanks to Peter for the find.

This vintage find is by San Diego enamel artist Kay Whitcomb. “Nine Lives” is an enamel on copper that was created as a donation to an art auction benefiting the San Diego Fine Arts Gallery in 1977.

This piece is currently available from Objects USA.

Thanks to Peter for the find.

This dapper dude driving a speedster was created by French graphic artist Jean Colin as part of a 1950s advertising campaign for auto equipment company Marchal. There’s an original poster available now on 1stdibs.com, but don’t faint when you see the price ($7,200!) Maybe you’ll come across one in a thrift store someday.

Thanks to Peter for the find.

On our way home from the Meow Mingle in Los Angeles, we stopped by our favorite mid-century modern mecca, Palm Springs. There’s a very special little shop, Bon Vivant, that we always have to visit because they usually have a wonderful selection of vintage cat items sprinkled throughout their other fabulous mid-century inventory.

The shop owners, James and Patrick, are a wealth of information, especially when it comes to mid-century modern art and pottery from southern California. They have a keen eye for good design and it’s always fun to see their latest finds.

Of course, there are a ton of other great mid-century modern shops in Palm Springs — so many that you can’t always make it to all of them if you’re just passing through — but we make it a point to stop at Bon Vivant. The shop is located inside the Palm Canyon Galleria on Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs. Next time you’re in Palm Springs, be sure to check it out.

One of my favorite mid-century modern designers is the Swedish artist and potter Lisa Larson. I’ve posted her wonderful and whimsical cat figurines in the past, and here are two of her beautiful wall tiles featuring stylized cats. I’d absolutely love to find one of these at an estate sale! You can find them on eBay and Etsy from time to time. (There’s one on eBay right now.)

This French poster design from the 1960s featuring an adorable black cat, is designed to show that TV makes everything look like real life. Designed by Alain Fleuri.

Thanks to Peter for the find.

If you have an extra $1,650 you can snatch up this fabulous vintage modern cat brooch. Made of red Bakelite and trimmed with 1.3 carats of diamonds, this is a rare find. It’s currently available on Etsy.

Peter found this awesome 1950s hand carved sculpture over on 1stdibs (the best online resource for all things mid-century modern and high-end) so it’s a bit pricey at $750, but it sure is cool. Unfortunately, the artist is unknown. I’d love to find one at a yard sale!

This wonderful photo was taken in August 1950 by LIFE Magazine staff photographer Peter Stackpole. It’s part of the LIFE Magazine photo archive hosed on Google. You can purchase a framed print for $89.99.

via ffffound | Thanks to Yuri for the ffffind.

Dutch graphic designer Dick Bruna created this hip book cover design in 1963 for Shirley Jackson’s Bramen met arsenicum (Blackberries and arsenic). What a lovely pair of vintage moderncats.

Other Dick Bruna book cover designs with cats include Vanwege de Katten (Because of the cats) by Nicolas Freeling, 1963; and Zomer Voor Stephane Jorris (Summer for Stephane Jorris) by Daniël Gray, 1961.

via Grain Edit | thanks to Peter for the find

These abstract feline figures were designed by Japanese industrial designer Masahiro Mori. Mori specialized in ceramics and is best known for his G-type soy sauce bottle, designed in 1958. I cannot locate a date for the design of the cat figures, but they are still in production and can be purchased at Unica Home.

Created in the 1950s by Swiss artist Donald Brun, these two poster designs for Zwicky yarn feature swank kitty images that helped define the simple cartoon-like style of the mid twentieth century. This moderncat makes a very fitting mascot for a yarn company.

More great mid-century moderncat illustrations from Dave over at Grain Edit. This week he guest posted on Design*Sponge about the 1956 children’s book Thomas by Mary Harris with illustrations by Cliff Roberts. The story is about a young girl and her cat Thomas. The beautiful face posing with the book above is Dave’s cat, who was also recently shown in Grain Edit’s “Behind the Blog“ post on Apartment Therapy/Unplugged.

This handsome fellow was found in an incredible collection of vintage matchbox labels compiled by Maraid Design. Most of the labels in this collection are from Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 60s. As Maraid writes on her blog, matchbox labels from this part of the world and this time period embraced modern design while documenting a variety of historical subjects.

Via one of my favorite design blogs Grain Edit | Thanks to Jason for spotting it.

Artist and illustrator Jim Flora is well-known for his graphic album covers designed for Columbia Records and RCA Victor in the 1940s and 50s. This great cover, Mambo for Cats published in 1955, is one of his most famous works. If you’re a jazz fan, or if you’re just a fan of groovy modern art, you can have your own Mambo for Cats either as a fine art print or as wearable art on a t-shirt.

To see more of Jim Flora’s artwork, check out two recently published books The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora and The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora.

Thanks to Kristen for introducing me to Jim’s cool art.

Check out these one-of-a-kind, handcrafted retro mod cat beds from Like Kittysville. Each bed is made from vintage fabric, so there are no two alike. The bed is molded out of industrial steel mesh that is padded and upholstered and attaches to a sleek wood base. The boomerang shape is perfect for all you mid-century moderncats.

The creator of Like Kittysville graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and apparently has a houseful of rescued cats. How great is that?

This is one of the best uses of vintage fabric I’ve seen! I can’t decide which one to get! Check out the current selections at the Like Kittysville Etsy store. New beds are always being listed.

Also blogged at Jenn Ski Studio and More Ways to Waste Time.

Some of my favorite mid-century modern pieces are these collectible pottery cats by Swedish ceramics artist Lisa Larson. From 1950 to 1980 she worked at the Gustavsberg porcelain factory outside Stockholm where she created a line of pottery animals, including several wonderful cat sculptures.

Lisa Larson’s pottery animals are quite collectible, often appearing on eBay and in antique stores. The examples shown here came from the folks at Modcats.

This is the first posting under the theme “Mid-century Moderncat” where I will highlight mid-twentieth century modern art and design featuring cats in some form or another.

To start the series, I’d like to share with you these beautiful acrylic cat sculptures by Brazilian artist Abraham Palatnik. The op art design is embedded inside the acrylic form, making the pattern visible from both sides. These are just two designs from a large collection of animal sculptures that he created using the same technique.

Featuring modern sculptural forms and incredible abstract patterns, these pieces are extremely collectible. They can usually be found on eBay and other auction sites. The two excellent examples shown above both came from ModCats.