Color illustrated postcard featuring a wonderfully detailed anthropomorphic cat household scene. A group of cats dressed in human clothing gathers around a dining table while several mice run across the floor beneath them.
The scene is filled with humorous details: one cat stands on a chair, another raises a paw toward a seated cat holding a cup, a white cat reaches across the table, and a black cat dressed as a maid enters carrying a covered serving dish. The table is scattered with dishes, cups, food, and overturned items, giving the image a lively, chaotic quality. A bird can also be seen outside the window.
The cats are depicted in dresses, suits, aprons, and other human clothing, making this a strong example of anthropomorphic animal postcard art—imagery in which animals are placed in distinctly human situations and given human clothing, expressions, and behavior.
The reverse is marked “Copyright by Max Künzli, Zürich 6/35.” The 6/35 notation is reproduced exactly as it appears on the card. Because the postcard does not explicitly define this notation as a publication date, no exact date is being assigned based solely upon it.
Anthropomorphic animal imagery has a long history in illustration and postcard art, with cats being an especially popular subject. Cards such as this transform familiar domestic activities into humorous scenes by replacing people with elaborately dressed animals.
This example has particularly strong visual interest because it depicts an entire cat household and dining scene rather than a single character. The numerous cats, mice running beneath the table, period-style clothing, domestic furnishings, food, maid character, and expressive poses give collectors many individual details to examine.
The Max Künzli Zürich copyright information and No. 4678 designation are also useful collector details and may help identify this card as part of a larger numbered group of related anthropomorphic cat illustrations.
This postcard may appeal to collectors of anthropomorphic cats, cat postcards, mice, animal humor, domestic scenes, illustrated postcards, Swiss postcards, Max Künzli cards, and whimsical animal ephemera.
Unused postcard with age and handling wear. Visible condition includes edge and corner wear, light toning/discoloration, scattered spotting/soiling, and surface wear. There is a small handwritten pencil notation near the upper right corner of the reverse. Some wear and minor irregularity are visible along the edges.
Please review both front and back images carefully and use eBay’s magnifier/zoom feature to inspect edge wear, corners, creases, bends, surface issues, scratches, writing, stains, toning, paper loss, album residue, and any other imperfections before purchasing.