The motifs painted on the sides of this irregularly cylindrical vase are especially remarkable. A group of four cats, one of them white, the other three blue, are humorously painted on the neck of the vase. Two of them are playing. Their elegant and slim silhouettes betray the deep influence of Japanese and Chinese art on ceramist Enerst Chaplet. His atelier indeed specialized in Japanese-inspired designs, en vogue at the time in Western Europe. Below the cats, a brownish glaze partially covers the otherwise off-white background of the vase’s body.