SILVERS THROUGH THE AGES

By Karol E. Cummins of Wyndcreste Silver Persians

Chinnie, born sometime in 1882 is the first recognized Silver Persian. It is believed Mrs. Hurt became smitten with her look and unusual color while attending one of the earliest cat shows in England and bought her for a "goodly" sum of money; I believe about 30 pounds sterling. In her book "The Book of Cats" Mrs. Simpson referred to Chinnie, as the "Mother of Chinchillas." Sadly nothing was ever recorded as to Chinnie's parentage or even their color; that said today we can trace every Silver Persian pedigree back to our illustrious Chinnie.

Silver Lambkin born approximately in 1890

Silver Persians known more specifically as Chinchillas and Shaded Silvers were recognized in England by the GCCF, the largest cat registry in the world at the time. Chinchillas and Shaded Silvers were given their own color class in approximately 1893 or 1894. Many early cat shows were held at the famed Crystal Palace, a magnificent structure composed of more than a million feet of glass designed by Sir Joseph Paxton in 1852. In this grand structure, the birth of the Cat Fancy took hold as the showing of pedigreed cats gained popularity. One by one new colors of Persian cats were recognized by the GCCF just before and throughout the early part of the turn of the twentieth century and exhibited in the glittering Crystal Palace. In the early years, for example, Red Tabbies were described as "Orange," and were lumped in with the Brown Tabbies. Blue Persians were recognized in 1880 and Creams a little later. Not surprisingly, Chinchillas and Shaded Silvers quickly gained recognition and popularity for their beautiful color, not found in the wild, and their lovely green eyes rimmed with mascara.

Lord Sylvester a Masked Silver Persian Born July 5, 1899

Early Chinchillas and Shadeds did not have the clear coats they are known for today, nor did they look in anyway similar to today's Silvers, but through selective breeding over the last 100 years has served to clear the coats of modern day Chinchillas and Shadeds and type has come a long way. In the early days, Blues, Blacks, Whites and Silver Tabbies are commonly found in early pedigrees and the sought after color for Chinchillas and Shadeds had a rather bluish or lavender tint to the tipping, which is not surprising as Blues and Blue Tabbies are commonly found in early pedigrees. According to Martha Wise the standard of the Chinchilla Cat Club in 1903 read "Palest silver, lavender tint preferred, nearly white at the roots. No dark stripes, blotches or brown tint." This tells us that the dilute influence was strong and actually aesthetically preferred over today's genetically black Chinchilla and Shadeds. Also, Masked Silvers appeared from time to time; nineteen of which were registered with CFA--the most well-known Masked Silver is Lord Sylvester, pictured above left, born July 5, 1899.

GC Michael of Beverly-Serrano Born April 30, 1944

Chinnie bred to Fluffy I produced Beauty of Bridgeyate, and Beauty bred to Perso produced the renowned Silver Lambkin. Silver Lambkin was considered quite magnificent in his day and proved to be a prolific sire. His most famous offspring are Lord Southampton (owned by Lady Decies of the Fulmer line) and Lord Argent (imported to the US by Mrs. Champion) and both served as the beginning of two famous lines: Agent and Southampton. These lines served as a foundation for many early Silver lines in Great Britain and in the US. For example, off spring from these cats served as the foundation of the Rob Roy, Winter, Lockehaven, Whitehall and Brushwood lines, and their off-spring's off-sping in turn founded the Pequosette, Arlington, Starlight, Rosewood, Rosedare, Hanford, Scotia, Kildare, Arrandale, and Allington lines to name a few. Fanfare of Allington born in England in 1949 and later imported to the US, was another sensational cat of his day and can be found behind nearly every Silver pedigree today.

GC Gray-Ivy Aladdin Born July 30, 1955

Silvers were largely "color-bred" from the 1920s forward, up until the 1950's when Fanny Mood of the famed Delphi Cattery did the "unthinkable" and bred Bon-Err Jerrilyn of Delphi to GC Dixi-Land Queed of Azulita, a Blue Persian. This I am sure caused quite a stir at the time as "color breeding" (breeding like color to like color) was the norm of the day. This "hybrid" breeding produced CH Delphi Suzy-Q. Another famous "hybrid" breeding is GC Sylva-Whyte Aladdin of Sandia (Copper-eyed White) bred to Delphi Zuni of Sandia, which produced CH Sandia Gorgeous George. Mrs. Mood was considered a pioneer as hybridizing to other colors simply was not done in the mid Twentieth Century and shame to any breeder that would even think of doing such a thing. That said, I don't think anyone had the nerve to call her on the carpet, well Dorie Weston probably gave her an earful albeit twenty years later!

GC Las Lomas Julio of Walnut Hill Born May 29, 1959

Likewise it is probable 'mistakes' or 'unplanned breedings' did occur although some may not appear on pedigrees, and these oops' combined with the legacy of mixed color breedings we see on the early pedigrees as well as a lot of the unknowns sires and dams on these same pedigrees, likely gave rise to odd colors that crop up from time to time including our Goldens, which is recessive color and is said to be a mutation of the Brown Tabby gene (or yellow gene?) There are many theories regarding the genesis of Goldens. Currently, studies at the University of California at Davis are being done to identify the specific gene giving rise to the Golden Color of kittens in our Silver to Silver breedings. A Black or Blue Silver parent must carry the Golden gene for this to occur. Golden Persians as well as Silver Persians are genetically speaking Black cats. The dominant inhibitor gene restricts the color to the tipping. Blue Chinchillas and Shadeds as well as Blue Golden Chinchillas and Shadeds are genetically speaking Blue cats--Blue being the dilute color of the Black gene. You can find more information on Genetics here.

American Shorthair breeders frequently used Silvers and other Solid Persians to bring up the type of American Shorthairs and it is said, long hair offspring of this hybridization introduced the short hair gene to some Persians which in turn gave rise to Exotics. The very first Exotic to Grand is a Silver Exotic and the most common color in American Shorthairs is Silver. History of Exotics.

Occasionally breeders will be blessed with a Blue Silver or Blue Golden, the legacy of the dilute factor in our lines. The blue tipping is difficult to discern, so it is probable many Blue Silvers have been misidentified and registered at Black Silvers in the past and used for breeding. Today, after a long and arduous journey the Blue Silvers have won acceptance to compete in CFA show rings commencing with the 2009-2010 show season. Several breeders worked hard to establish a standard approved by the Silver and Golden Breed Council and CFA. Pamela Martin of Castlepaws Silver and Golden Persians has written an excellent article chronicling the quest to promote Blue Silvers and Blue Goldens from the previous AOV (all othr varieties) status to Champship status in her article Singing the Blues.

GC Walnut Hill Delight Born June 9, 1959

Also, because of the legacy of the mixed pedigrees in the earlier years, breeders were often surprised and shocked when a Golden is born to two Silver parents (both must carry the recessive Golden gene). In earlier times, these kittens were referred to as "brownies" and often hidden and quickly placed in pet homes. It was thought that the "brownies" were the result of impure breeding practices and thus considered shameful. Color breeding in the mid twentieth century was approved practice of the day. Please click here to read Color Breeding Silver Persians by Dorie Weston of Walnut Hill.

Thankfully interest in Goldens grew and due the dedication of several Silver and Golden breeders were attracted by the unusual coat color in contrast with their vivid blue green eye color and worked hard to win the acceptance of Chinchilla and Shaded Goldens in Championship in CFA. They accomplished their goal CFA in 1976. The first Male Golden Persian Grand Champion is GC La Cattique Cache, bred and shown by Wilma Van Scoyk and the first Female Golden Grand Champion is GC Dee-J Desert Poppy, bred and shown by Dee Single. Please click here for more information on Goldens.

Silvers in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

GC Walnut Hill Rondo Born May 21, 1961

In 1953, GC Arlington Sensation II of Nor-Mont achieved the distinction of CFA Cat of the Year; the only year a Silver ever won this distinction. Other prominent lines of the mid-nineteenth century included Dearheart, Bonavia, Bama-Crest, Bonnie, Chateau Chat, Sheromar, Kerry Lu, Beverly Serrano, Citrus Ridge, Cashmere, Nani-Lei, Beau Geste, Kitty Cove, Mary Crary, Silver Mesa, Shy-Ann, High Echo, Chatami, Gray Ivy and later still: Walnut Hill, Co-Mc, Candyshop, Charlwood, Bean Ridge, Tinkle Puff, Pahlavan, Kitza, Bobette, Edgewood, Moss Glen, Fayron, Be-Ru, Marlboro, Gay Purr-ee, Hillsbury, Las Montanas, Shasta, Shawnee, Silver Willow, Shy's Castle, Las Lomas, Mill Russ, Hayward, Sequoia, Oakview, Kohinoor, Mistymarn,Five Flags, Groot, Fair Oaks, Wokanda, Wee Heather, High Echo, Wicklow, Jubilee, Sanskrit, Highlite, and Heathkilf to name a few.

GC Gray-Ivy Aladdin served as the foundation sire for Walnut Hill and can be found most modern pedigrees. The combination of Delphi, Gray-Ivy and Walnut Hill proved fortuitous and ancestors from cross breeding these lines and other lines named above served as the foundation for many modern lines including Diadem, Gold Hill, Dalee, Sanmar, Exton, Mata-Blu, Scrimshaw, Wyngate, Care-y's, Royal Rebel, Dee-J, Flambeau, Jenwilli, Tiffanyland, Kephri, La-Dor, Me Home, Classic, South Hill, Limeridge, Lockestill, Pahlewi, Gipanglin, Mac-Haven, Shadedknoll, Mission Hill, Panhandle, Pawlewi, Nite Wind, Kinny-Knnick, Denevers, McPuree, Fair Isles, Chatarebe, Chatican, Talin, Tiladon, Harthrob, Resevoir Hil, Puffian, Purbachs, Bien-Amie, Brettachal, Sonnet, Kitnpaws, Echo Hill, Joyvyn, Kalima, Little Sister, Kelly Lane, Kimberlea, My-My, Desertdove, Myshara, Mysticstar, Mystre, Ivy Hill, Ivy league, Kit-T-Kur, Ana-lan, Kittyville, Danpeg, Hapynesis, Kitsumi, La Cattique, Pet Joy, Chassir, Dapplegrae, Debarron, Deealden, Sumew, Cremedelacrem, LaGemini, Hautecats, Featherbleu, Caldera, Thickety Run, Woki, Emmenjay, Elegre, Bethceleste, Sharmeyne, SassyTails, Sharts, Razberrilane, Rondirk, Dinpeace, and Adcock. I know I have forgotten many illustrious lines, so please accept my apologies in advance.

GC Gray Ivy Fanfare Born March 19, 1967

From the lines mentioned above, many of whom are still breeding and exhibiting their beautiful cats we have: Akristocats, AppleBlossom, Indiancreek, Brumar, Hastings Hall, Apurcat/The Rose, Aritzia, All Aglitter, Af Edal Loga, Carictor, Cashelaby, Cedarswamp, Castlepaws, Catwells, Bouquet House, Chelcecats, Chenet, Cheerybirdie, Country Castle, Coujee, Dazzle M, Dejavumoon, Diehl, Dieulhonneur, Dr. Paws, Dream Paws, Exquisitcats, Ez2luv, Elchakcharan, Elegantpurrs, Eliszkatz, Hohenzell, Imaginaries, Jade River, Jobez, Jayremington, Jenna-Purrs, Ornamental, Jemappelle, Jennycats, Joyhill, Kimberlite, Labrese, Lascher, Lion Blanc, Meadowpurrs, Misteeriver, Nakeli, Eucker, Paws&Purrs, Peerage, Pepper Mill, Persefelis, Purrmunn, Ultamint, Purrsatin/Xymin, Salondechat, Silvadee, Silverestates, SimbaKui, Sootypaws, StarDazl, Tayrie, Sunnybeach, Sun'n'Roses, The Bird&I, TheLords, Wyndcreste, Kittikamir, Catwells, Bennic, Babybrats, Bookats, Sol E Luna, Ridgetop, Castlegate, Catchurheart, Vonguts, Escorial, Dainty Dolls, Silver Storm, and Aghouse and I know I am forgetting numerous lovely catteries currently exhibiting and showing today please forgive me and send me the names!

GC Diadem Personality Plus (pictured below left), GC Joyvyn Purrfect Sir Prize (pictured below right) and GC, RW Sanmar Ole (pictured below right) have had a tremendous impact on modern day silvers. Plus, Prize and Ole can be traced behind most cats being shown today.

Exhibiting and Breeding Silver and Golden Persians:

Diadem Dandipratt, GC Diaden Adorable of Sanmar and GC Diadem Personaltiy Plus, DM as small kittens, circa 1981.

Many newbie breeders immediately fall in love with the beauty of our Silvers and Goldens, but quickly become disillusioned when they discover how difficult it is to breed a quality Silver or Golden, which will earn recognition in the show ring. Several CFA Judges first started breeding and exhibiting Silvers and know how challenging breeding quality Silvers and Goldens can be and do recognize beautiful Silvers when presented well. Many experienced breeders believe it takes many years to achieve consistent quality in one's litter, ten years being a very realistic goal. One can "get lucky" sometimes, but by and large, one can experience many heartbreaking, expensive and time consuming set backs before one achieves consistency. That said, while enormously expensive, raising, nurturing and protecting these exquisitely beautiful and loving animals is extremely rewarding. If all you care to do is to collect rosettes in the show ring, Silvers are not for you or anyone without enormous love, commitment and dedication it takes to be successful with this exquisite breed of cat.

My best advice to any newbie is to research, research more and more, reading everything you can about the breed and animal husbandry and genetics. It is also advisable to join YahooGroups chat lists such as the Silver and Forum and the CFA Mentorship list. Send emails to: SilverGoldenForum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and CFAMentoring-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. The willingness to learn is paramount. It is also critical that one finds a strong and knowledgeable mentor that will help with one's start in the fancy. This is NOT an avenue to "make money" but rather a very expensive hobby.

GC, RW Sanmar Ole born June 13, 1978, bred by Shirley Crawford, is another famous and significant Shaded Silver male. He too can be found behind many quality pedigrees today.

It is strongly recommended by many the best way to start is to obtain a high quality altered cat to be shown in the Premiership class. This way one does not make a huge initial investment and has the opportunity to gain experience grooming and showing. Also, this is an excellent avenue to meet others involved in the fancy and gain references one may need to obtain quality cats and learn. Personally, I was extremely fortunate in having Marta Wacek (Limeridge), Pamela Hill (Echo Hill), Sally Daniels (Shadedknoll), Barbara Whitman (Dalee) and Shirley Crawford (Sanmar) mentor and share their lines with me-- I cannot thank them enough for their years of friendship, encouragement and support. Janice Reichle (Diadem), the late Sue Hinkle (Fairisles) and the late Bette DeSharon (Fanciluvs) are and were all wonderful and knowledgeable Mentors to me, always willing to answer my many, many questions.

Color

For many years Silvers and Goldens were shown in the Shaded Division, lumped in with gold-eyed Smokes and Cameos and Shaded Tortoiseshells and it was rare a Silver won over a lovely Smoke or Shell Cameo. Finally in the 1995/1996 show season the Silver and Golden Division was born. Now the Shaded Division consists of the gold-eyed Smokes and Cameos and the Silver and Golden, the green-eyed Chinchilla Silvers, Shaded Silvers, Chinchilla Goldens, and Shaded Goldens which has served to benefit the division as a whole.

GC Diadem Personaltiy Plus, DM Born February 3, 1981.

Silver and Golden Persians and the Cat Fancy are evolving all the time. The Standard for the Golden was recently refined in 2004 and perhaps it still needs some tweaking as the color is perhaps too broad in the description: "undercoat pale honey to bright apricot." In time, I am sure those dedicated to the beautiful Golden will decide on a more standardized color description. Also, as I previously mentioned, there are several dedicated breeders working with Blue Chinchillas and Blue Goldens and hope to seek their acceptance in CFA one day. Changing the standard is a reflection of evolution of the breed and the division, but traditional opinions die hard.

There is also controversy amongst many Silver and Golden Breeders about how extreme Silvers and Goldens ought to strive to be. Many believe that the more moderate look of traditional "color bred" Silver and Goldens is better for the health and well being of the breed and feel strongly that moderation is the optimal goal, while and others feel because the fashion of the extremely short nosed Persian is rewarded in the show ring, is what one 'ought' to breed toward, despite the fact that there are many well documented health issues associated with extreme brachycelphalic head type, most serious being mal-formed sinuses, teeny nares, malformed bites/jaws and bumpy and lumpy heads, hydrocephalic kittens, all conditions rarely if ever found in the traditional Silver and if one does one can find an "other color" Persian not too far back in the pedigree.

That said the look of traditional silver does meet the standard as it is written. The standard simply states the nose must be "short, snub, and broad, with "break" centered between the eyes." The standard does not state the nose must be so short it is centered between the eyes nor does it state the 'break,' which must be centered between the eyes, be deep or shallow. However, the current fashion so rewarded by many Judges in the show ring appears to favor Persians exhibiting extremely short noses, centered between the eyes, and some go into rapture if they can 'bury' their finger into a deep break!!

GC Joyvyn Purrfect Sirprize, DM Born August 17, 1982

While some judges are not fans of Silver or Golden Persians, and race through judging the class, there are many, many Judges that relish judging the class and adore Silvers and Goldens and recognize a quality Silver or Golden with good type, great color, gorgeous eyes with deep green eye color. Many traditional Silver and Golden Persians exhibit extremely sweet and open expressions on well balanced cobby bodies. Most all agree, Silvers and Goldens have fabulous doming and wide top head, which is not found as frequently in other color Persians and are the most elegant and ethereal of all the Persians the "Bentley" of the Persian world if you will.

In whichever way the Silvers and the Goldens of the future evolve, they will always have a loyal following of devoted admirers, and to this end, they owe their legacy to the many dedicated breeders of the last 110 years (which is the equivalent of approximately 600-800 years in terms of the cycle of human generations). These wonderful breeders devoted many, many years of their lives (and tons of money) to these beautiful cats. To be successful, one must have a keen eye for quality, ardent concern for their health and well being, as well as enthusiasm toward learning all they can about these gorgeous cats.

Pedigrees and Lineage:

First Wyndcreste Litter CH Cloverhill Elijah's Sweet Annabelle x Ahna's Ulysses Born May 31, 1991

To better illustrate pedigrees and lineage, I will use my line to serve as an example about how Silvers and Goldens can trace their lineage back to Chinnie, the first recognized silver. My first Silver was a Shaded Silver female, CH Cloverhill Elijah's Sweet Annabelle. Her pedigree was largely ¾ Walnut Hill and behind the Adcock, Heathkilf and Gay-Purr-EE lines in her pedigree we find the well known Delphi line. I was fortunate to breed her to Ahna's Ulysses of Limeridge. Ulysses' pedigree is largely 100% Walnut Hill, going back to Sequoia, Jubilee, Gipanglin, Bean Ridge, Bobette, and of course the famous GC Gray-Ivy Aladdin; the foundation sire of the Walnut Hill line out of Mitzie of Gray-ivy and Fanfare of Allington.

Mitzie of Gray-ivy was the founding cat of the Gray-Ivy Line (Grace and Ivan Over of Southern California) and her name should actually read Kerry Lu Mitzie of Gray-Ivy, but the Overs were newbies and simply registered her as Mitzie of Gray Ivy. GC Gray-Ivy Aladdin is probably the most significant Sire in the history of silvers. He bred eleven Grand Champions, and perhaps more, that said in his day this is quite an accomplishment, but more importantly he figures prominently behind every silver pedigree today. Bred to Wee-Heather Holly Ann he sired GC Gray Ivy Winsome of Cardell, DM the first silver Distinguished Merit winner. Janice Reichle of Diadem researched and found that six of her off spring that had attained the title of Grand Champion and petitioned for her title.

GC Shadedknoll Chantilly Born May 2, 1989

Going back to my first breeding, the combined pedigrees of Annabelle and Ulysses, produced four kittens two of whom I kept: CH Wyndcreste Razzle Dazzle and CH Wyndcreste Lalique and with their combined pedigree we have one immediate common ancestor Walnut Hill Starshine. His sire is Bobette Bacchus of Walnut Hill and behind him on his sire's side we find CH Walnut Hill Bravado of Bobbette which again goes back to Gray-Ivy Aladdin and GC Las Lomas Julio of Walnut Hill. On Bobette Bachus of Walnut Hill dam's side we have CH, PR Bobette Lady Suzanne, and behind her we find Capistrano Danny Boy, who in turn goes back to Chatami Patsy of Capistrano, sired by the famed QDGC Las Montanas Emeraud of Chatami.

Behind QDGC Las Montanas Emeraud of Chatami we go back to Kildare Sir Dare II, Nani-Lei Silver Angelette, GC Michael of Beverly-Serrano, Playtime Cherub II of Kiltie, Starlite Souvenir's Kookie. Behind these lines we discover Woohoo Dauntless, Starlight Heart Bandit, The Viking (aka Brushwood Dunder), Roblyn II of Minnesota, CH Genee Winter of Claremont. Behind CH Genee Winter of Claremont, we have Bittern Silver Chieftan, Lord Southampton, Kohinoor and Rob Roy and behind these pedigrees we find our illustrious Mother of all Silvers: Chinnie.

GC Walnut Hill Imari of Shadedknoll Born June 2, 1983

I traced this one small branch, to serve as illustration, but via just about all of the several thousand branches of their pedigree lead back to Chinnie. I love reading all of the interesting names of the cats, some of which are quite romantic and elegant, so one knows they were indeed highly prized.

Later I bred CH Wyndcreste Razzle Dazzle, with her beautiful huge eyes to the very handsome CH Shadedknoll Fanfare. I feel in love with this boy bred by Sally Daniels when I exhibited my Annabelle at our very first CFA show. Behind Fanfaire we have GC Fairisles Citation of Shadedknoll. He was the first Grand Champion for Sally and his Breeder Sue Hinkle and said to be the best cat produced by Fairisles. GC Shadedknoll Chantilly is Fanfaire's dam and is the most beautiful and flashy Chinchilla imaginable and still gorgeous at 16 years old today. She is out of CH Gray-Ivy Don Wan of Shadedknoll and the outstanding GC Walnut Hill Imari of Shadedknoll.

GC Walnut Hill Imari of Shadedknoll was the epitome of a refined and flashy Silver with the most amazing green eyes and dripping coat complete with snow shoes. Imari's look set the standard for me to reach for in my breeding program. Incredible eyes set wide apart with that little extra dash of something different and other worldly, yet refined and ethereal, together with an amazing top head, sweet expression and cobby body with full dripping coat. Her photo above does not capture her true beauty, balance and refinement. Just before Dorie Weston of Walnut Hill retired, she placed all of her remaining kitties with many members of the Franciscan Silver and golden Fanciers, thus the legacy of Walnut Hill lives strongly in modern California lines.

CH, GP Wyndcreste Beloved, DM CFA's 14th Silver Persian Distinguished Merit Winner Born January 30, 1997

This breeding produced CH Wyndcreste Strike a Pose! Who was bred to CH Wyndcreste Lalique and while I was in Paris that summer produced CH Wyndcreste Liberty born on the 4th of July. Thanks to Sally Daniel's generosity, I was very fortunate to breed Liberty to GC Shadedknoll Sterling (as a kitten he had the most amazing top head I had ever seen), and CH, GP Wyndcreste Beloved, DM was born. GC Shadedknoll Sterling is out of a fortuitous breeding of CH Wyngate Limited Edition of Limeridge and GC Diadem Beloved of Shadedknoll, bringing in Wyngate lines as well as the famed Diadem line. GC Diadem Beloved is out of GC Diadem Personality Plus, DM and GC Diadem So Sweet, DM. GC Shadedknoll Cherish is Sterling's Litter sister. There is a third sister living in Amsterdam CH Shadedknoll Mariah.

CH, GP Wyndcreste Beloved, DM is obviously named after her grandmother. Lovey as I call her is traditional in look, but the judges love her balance and size and clear chinchilla coat and best of all she has thrown beautiful kittens several of which have that special look that I love. Five of her kittens have Granded: GC Wyndcreste Intrigue, GC Wyndcreste Ritzy Bitzy, GP Wyndcreste Suspense, GP Wyndcreste Flaubert andCH, GP Wyndcreste Imari. All of these kittens (except GP Wyndcreste Suspense) were sired by CH Limeridge Starry Nights of Wyndcreste.

CH Limeridge Starry Nights of Wyndcreste Born June 25, 1992

Behind CH Limeridge Starry Nights of Wyndcreste, we find more Walnut Hill and Wyngate. Let's start with his Sire CH Wyngate Limited Edition of Limeridge's sire GC, PR Wyndgate Squire, the best Chinchilla Silver in 1990; behind him we have CH Dalee Lucky Charm of Shakara, and behind him we have CH Care-Y Charmer of Dalee and GC Candyshop Sterling of Scrimshaw. The Care-Y line goes back to Gray-Ivy and Delphi and Sarah Velman's Candyshop line goes back again to Delphi via Delphi Dreamer of Recherche and Mary Crary, most famous is GC Candyshop Candy of Mary Crary. GC Candyshop Candy of Mary Crary goes back to the Sheromar, Silver Quest, Shawnee, Favors, Beverly-Serrano, Arlington, and Shy Castle lines. Behind Shy Castle His Royal Shyness we have the Lovely Chiquita Linda of Beverly-Serrano. Behind her we have Thistledown Carus, GC Silver Lion of Rosewood, who in turn goes back to Chinnie once again via The Viking.

Wyngate Limited Edition's dam is GC, GP Moonlight Lady of Wyngate. GC, GP Moonlight Lady of Wyngate's dam, we have Seando My little Dancing Girl, a hybrid sired by CH Meadowood Celebration, a Black Smoke Persian. Her Dam is Dalee Sterling Delight of Seando. GC Dalee Sterling Delight goes back to Barbara Whitman's foundation cat CH Eee-Dee Celene of Dalee and she goes back to more Walnut hill and Gray-Ivy lines.

GC Wyndcreste Ritzy Bitzy Born May 23, 2002

In addition to my primary foundation line described above, I have added Ch Silverestate Picture That!, a lovely Chinchilla female, thanks to Kathy Zennaiter (Silverestate). Funny Face as I affectionately call her brought in the Sonnet, Joyvyn, Nitewind, Flambeau, Exton lines via Akristocats Kodak of Silverestates. Through her dam's line we find well regarded Scrimshaw line via CG Srimshaw Fancy That! She in turn goes back to the Candyshop and Mary Crary lines illustrated above. Also behind her is Silvacreek Ciara down from the Hershie, Hillsbury, Beau Geste, Be-Ru, Sanskrit, Wokanda, and of course Walnut Hill and Gray-ivy lines once again. Funny face bred to GP Wyndcreste Suspense gave birth to GC Wyndcreste Rendezvous, GC Wyndcreste Liaison and Wyndcreste Heritage who in turn sired GC Silverestate Main Event. Funny Face went through a long very gawky period, but true to her six-week old self, she at two and one half years old looked as she did at six weeks old--both Kathy and I were amazed at how much she had changed from month to month, year to year.

I was also fortunate to be honored with Sanmar Anna Lucia of Wyndcreste, a hybrid Shaded Silver Persian bred by the well known and highly regarded Shirley Crawford of Sanmar fame. (I longed for a Sanmar kitty since the early 90s!) Pumpkin as she is known is out of Sanmar Phan Tom, who was sired by GC Budmar By Request of Chinook Winds a fabulous Black Persian and her dam is Sanmar Jil, litter sister of GC Sanmar Jenner of Shadedknoll. Shirley and I bred Pumpkin to CH Limeridge Starry nights because of all of the wonderful chinchillas behind him to lighten the coats of their offspring. Wyndcreste Dahlia of Sanmar was born in her first litter and Wyndcreste Marguerite in the Second. Wyndcreste Dahlia of Sanmar bred to Sanmar Solo gave birth to Sanmar Forget-Me-Not, 4th Best Silver Kitten Nationally in the 2004/2005 season, and Sanmar Lily. I hope to breed Maggie this season. Behind Sanmar Jill we have Jenwilli, Adcock, Jobez, Wyngate via the drop dead gorgeous GC, RW Wyngate Cassandra, GC Wyngate Squire's litter sister. We also have a White Persian from one of Shirley's efforts at hybridizing: Kitty Charm Diamonds of Wishes.

Wyndcreste Marguerite Born July 19, 2004

At about the same time I welcomed Pumpkin to my home, I also was extremely fortunate to be honored with CH Dalee Divinity bred by the renown and well respected Barbara Whitman Dalee. It was a dream come true as I have always loved the look of Barbara's Dalee kitties, and had dreamed of day I might welcome one to my home. I bred CH Dalee Divinity to GC Wyndcreste Rendezvous and CH Wyndcreste Chutes and Ladders and Wyndcreste Candyman of 2M were born.

Shirley Crawford of Sanmar and Barbara Whitman of Dalee have been each breeding Silvers since the 1970s and have bred numerous Grand Champions over the years. Both are well respected icons in the Silver world and I am honored to work with them. Perhaps a year later I gave Barbara GC Wyndcreste Ritzy Bitzy and now she has several of her daughters and granddaughters. Last year Barbara honored me with GC Dalee Special Edition of Wyndcreste and gave me back my lovely Ritzy and I in turn gave Barbara GC Wyndcreste Rendezvous and Wyndcreste Afternoon Delight. I cannot thank her enough for these two extremely beautiful and special kitties. Barbara just gave me one of Ritzy's grand daughters CH Dalee Angel's Whisper. One often hears the term that a certain male is "pre-potent" thus likely to sire offspring that resembles the sire. But in GC Wyndcreste Ritzy Bitzy's case, it is she that indeed prepotent as all of her daughters strongly resemble her. Only CH Wyndcreste Dazzling in Diamonds does not, as she is a prettier replica of Her Grandmother CH, GP Wyndcreste Beloved, DM. Oops! At 10 months of age, Dazzling in Diamonds strongly resembles her mother Ritzy! I should have known! Barbara jokes perhaps she should rename her cattery to the Ritzy cattery!

CH Wyndcreste Chutes and Ladders of Eliszkatz Born July 2, 2002

GC Dalee Special Edition of Wyndcreste is a wonderful addition as he brings in a number of different lines such as All Aglitter, Exton, Labellechat, Haute Cats, Wishstar, La Gemini, Sumew, Gold Hill, Danpeg, Wyngate, Sanmar, Mission Hill, Kimberlea, Keeperkit (Black Persian), Deealden, Chassir, and Sonnet. That said, these lines can all be traced full circle back to Delphi, Kitza, Walnut Hill, Gray-Ivy, Hillsbury, Sanskrit, Beau Guest, Wicklow, Ana-Lan, Kitty Ville and so on and which brings us full circle back to Chinnie.

Tracing this genealogy of Silvers through the ages one can see how honored and treasured they are and were in their lifetimes. We can also see how small our gene pool actually is as it has been only a little over 100 years since Chinnie was born and there a relatively few breeders working world wide with this beautiful breed and only a teeny percentage of these kitties are kept for breeding to carry on the lines, while the remaining kittens are spayed and neutered.

GC Dalee Special Edition of Wyndcreste Born July 10, 2002

I hope you enjoyed this article are spurred on to do additional research on these beautiful cats. Janice Reichle of Diadem has written numerous very interesting and informative articles on the history and legacy of our Silvers and Goldens including: "Silver Persians -- You've Come a Long Way Baby!," which appeared in the 1987 CFA Yearbook, and in the 1979 CFA yearbook "Silvers are Precious," and updated that article in the 1997 CFA Yearbook: "Silvers are Still Precious." Martha Wise is another well know historian and writer and wrote a very interesting article on the history of Silvers, which can be found in the 1970 CFA Yearbook, addtionally an updated version of Mrs. Wise's articles, edited by Christopher Bock is published online by Pandecats: Silver Roots Part One; Silver Roots Part Two; and Silver Roots Part Three. Of course these authors have written numerous other articles which have appeared over the years in the United Silver Fanciers Quarterly Magazine.

I used all of the above articles as reference for this article together with my own Pedigree data base. That said, the pedigrees about are true and correct to the best of my knowledge; however I am constantly correcting mistakes and catching typos, so if you see any oop's please let me know. To obtain certified copies of CFA pedigrees of your cats, click here: Certified pedigrees are the last word and bible in terms of accuracy and well worth the investment.

CFA is celebrating more than 100 years in service to cat owners worldwide, please join me in congratulating the world's largest registry of cats. Please click here for an article on the History of CFA.