W
hen exploring the natural evolution and subsequent development of the Tonkinese breed, we discover that the history of how the Tonkinese breed came to be is very much entwined with the Siamese & Burmese breeds, from which the Tonkinese derives. Yet the unique appearance exhibited by the Mink-pattern that defined the breed initially was for a long time overlooked in favour of the striking Siamese that had become very popular at the time.
And it seems she was not the first of her kind to reach the West. There are records of the 'Golden Siamese' being imported alongside the Siamese since the earliest imports of Siamese to the Western world, and indeed it was the more common Siamese that made the greatest impression, and became very popular.
The darker form, or 'Golden Siamese' (most likely describing the 'mink' patterns) had failed to make the same impression and fallen into obscurity. Breeders that were aware of her existence, considered Wong Mau to be just a 'dark' Siamese, but Dr Thompson thought Wong Mau's pattern was distinctly different from the Siamese pattern, rather than a variation, so he enlisted the help of noted Siamese breeders; Billie Gerst of 'Gerstdale Cats', and subsequently Mrs Virginia Cobb of 'Newton Siamese' in order to conduct experimental breeding.
Thus in conjunction with a leading geneticist Dr Clyde Keeler, the two knowledgeable breeders were able to carry out breeding experiments to determine the inheritance of these patterns.
This was to be the first time that accurate knowledge of the hereditary of these patterns was to be established.
As there was no similar male cat at hand, and no real knowledge of the complex genetics that underpin what we now refer to as the 'Himalayan gene patterns', Wong Mau was bred to a seal-point Siamese called Tai Mau, who had been imported from Thailand.
The resulting litter produced both Seal-Point 'Siamese' kittens and also darker kittens that were identical in colour and pattern to their mum.
Thus it was clear that the form that we now recognise as being 'mink'-patterned, was indeed the result of a distinct version of the gene, that created variations of both coat and eye colour.
Wong Mau with her kittens of both colour-types
Wong Mau with a 'pointed' kitten
The 'darker' form also exhibited a different type of blue eye-colour, a more green-tinged colour that lacked the 'red-reflecting' properties of the pupil seen in the eyes of the Siamese.
In order to 'fix' the pattern, and to gain further insights into the mode of inheritance of these patterns, Wong Mau was subsequently mated to her identically-patterned son to determine what happens when 2 of the same pattern were combined.
This mating produced yet a third pattern variation of pattern on the body of the kitten, that was darker again in it's shade of brown than Wong Mau herself, and therefore less contrasty, displaying very little difference between the point colour and the body colour.
This previously unknown dark-coated cat was considered to have more potential than the intermediate pattern, due to being more divergent to the pattern of the familiar Siamese, and was subsequently developed and named 'Burmese' in honour of Wong Mau's country of origins.
From that point on, the intermediate pattern or what we now refer to as the 'Mink' pattern seemed to fade back into obscurity and was largely ignored for many decades. The Burmese by contrast went on to become one of the most popular breeds alongside its 'cousin' the Siamese, and was developed in a type that was very different to the Siamese with which it shared the same ancestry.
These breeding experiments were able to establish the genetic relationship between the 3 inter-related patterns that we now recognise as the Himalayan Gene series.
Wong Mau is often erroniously described as a 'Tonkinese' – due to her ‘Mink’ pattern that we now associate with the breed, yet in reality the breed that was to be named Tonkinese was to be developed much later on. In addition to the opportunity to work with the 'mink' gene, the new breed Tonkinese was created to be an intermediate form between the Siamese and Burmese breeds that had been developed in opposite directions.to each other since the 1950's
This 'Family Tree' charts the foundation of the Burmese breed,
and therefore the origins of the Tonkinese.
Therefore Wong Mau was clearly not a 'Tonkinese' per se, but was merely a cat that exhibited the intermediate form of the Himalayan gene…. a gene that was later developed as the foundation of the Tonkinese breed, and was the pivotal 'stepping stone' to the establishment of the Burmese breed.
It is now clear that all 3 forms of the Himalayan gene were naturally occurring, and evolved concurrently in South East Asia. Indeed 'Burmese-patterned' cats had been known for centuries living not just in Burma, but also in Thailand and Malaysia, and had been imported into the US and England previous to Wong Mau's arrival and subsequent breeding.
There are historic references to the 'Chocolate Siamese', which was much darker in body-colour may have been either a 'mink' pattern (Tonkinese) or a 'solid' pattern, (Burmese) - but of the three patterns, the Siamese in particular stood out, and due to the striking blue eyes and contrast of the Siamese that pattern was most favoured and therefore developed, resulting in the two remaining forms being generally overlooked (until the arrival of Wong Mau) and falling back into obscurity.
Thus the experimental breeding of Wong Mau provided the core knowledge of the 3 variations of the Himalayan gene and how they interact with one another, and from that point on, selective breeding for the solid pattern (low contrast) or pointed pattern (high-contrast) led to the Burmese and Siamese development as separate and distinctive breeds. The intermediate patterned (mink) cats were also used in both programs in the early days.
It is important to realise that the 'type' of the cats that gave rise to both breeds were similar or identical in those early days and that the only thing differentiating these cats was often the expression of colour and pattern.
Many breeds were in their infancy, in fact the very notion of what constituted a breed of cat was just being established. Thus there was not the diversity of type observed in modern breeds today, and a cat was often equated with a breed if expressing a particular colour.
Early Burmese Male, circa 1942
It was not until the mid-1960's, when Jane Barletta from New Jersey, and Margaret Conroy from Ontario in Canada, in separate breeding experiments began combining the genes for both breeds once again, a practice that had been avoided and frowned upon in the latter development of both the Siamese and then Burmese breeds.
The resulting cats displayed what we now know to be the intermediate of 'Mink' pattern, and had aquamarine coloured eyes.
From about the 1950's the type of the two breeds had begun to diverge from one another, with the Siamese being bred as a more refined body and head-type, whereas the Burmese was developing in the opposite direction, being a more compact shaped body-type and expressing a shorter and wider face.
The potential to develop these as a separate breed was buoyed by the reality that the breeds of Siamese and Burmese were now also markedly different in type, and that the combining of the two very different breeds to create a third breed would not just display a different pattern but a body and head-type that was also very different to that of both parent breeds.
They named the breed 'Tonkinese' in reference to the Gulf of Tonkin region of Indochina. Some reports suggest that the physical location of the Gulf of Tonkin sits neatly between the locations of Burma and Thailand, yet a look at a map will reveal otherwise. The name has also been suggested to relate to the musical South Pacific where half-breed or mixed race people were referred to as 'Tonkinese'
Jane Barletta & Margaret Conway by this time were familiar with each others' breed programs and subsequently collaborated, along with a Mary Swanson from California to consolidate their work and devise a provisional breed standard. The breed was then accepted for registration by the CCA (Canadian Cat Association ) in 1965, and was then granted championship status in 1971.
There was and continues to this day some challenges to the acceptance of the Tonkinese as a distinct breed, and the road to acceptance was a slow one. However by 1978, the Tonkinese was accepted for registration in the USA by the Independent Cat Federation, the Cat Fanciers Federation and finally the Cat Fanciers Association.
By the 90's in the UK, the Tonkinese breed was growing in popularity, and had also been developed from the parent breeds of Siamese and Burmese, which in Europe had evolved very differently as parent breeds to those that appeared in the USA. This accounts for the great difference between Tonkinese that derive from the USA as opposed to Europe.
Tonkinese as an 'established' breed were recognised in the UK by the GCCF in 1991. And a decade later the GCCF finally granted Championship status to the Tonkinese in 2002, yet only the intermediate or 'Mink' pattern. The 'pointed' and 'solid' patterned cats were referred to as 'variants' and were not eligible for championship status until as late as 2013
The breed has been developed in Australia since the 1990's, and in many respects is still in it's infancy as a breed. Currently the various pedigree cat registration bodies that exist within Australia, are mostly in agreement as to what is accepted in the breed standard, yet with the addition of new colours and patterns in some cases the breed is constantly under revision as it continues to evolve.
In the information above we have explored the modern history of the Tonkinese breed, and that of it's parent breeds; the Siamese & Burmese, yet some remarkable documents exist that confirms that the genetics that gave rise to all three breeds of Siamese, Burmese & Tonkinese, are very ancient indeed.
The Tonkinese is often referred to as one of the 'naturally-occurring' breeds, in that the genes that gave rise to the Siamese, Burmese & Tonkinese all occur naturally as colour mutations that spontaneously appeared cats in South East Asia, and were then subsequently developed as a separate 'breed'
Located in the Fine Arts Room / National Museum, this cabinet contains images and poems documenting the unique cats of Thailand
The 'Thai Book of the Cat' or Smud Khoi describes several varieties of cats that existed in ancient Thailand
Housed in the Fine Arts Room at the National Museum, Bangkok, are the Smud Khoi, or the Thai Book of the Cat.
These pictures and poems describe cats of different types and colours and are copies of other and yet older pictures, which date from throughout the Ayutthaya period of Thai history (1350 - 1767),
This indicates that the Thai breeds of cats as we know them now have a very ancient recorded history - some 600 years or more.
The cat named 'Wichianmaad' clearly describes the unique qualities of the Siamese. The 'Thong Daeng' or the The Thai Copper: These most likely identify the colouration that was to be the forerunner of both the Brown Burmese and Tonkinese.
Some of the cats depicted are clearly recognisable for their colour-forms, yet others depicted may have their origins in mythology.
'Wichianmaad' - the forerunner of the Siamese breed
The eighth cat or 'Wichianmaad' as it was named, exhibits colour and pattern traits that immediately identify it as the Siamese equivalent .......
"The upper part of the mouth, the tail, all four feet, and the ears, these eight places are black.
The eyes are reddish-gold in colour the cat called Wichianmaad has white fur"
The reference to the 'reddish gold' eyes of Wichianmaad' denote the red we see reflected in the pupil of Siamese and other colour-point cats.
The third cat or 'Su-Pa-Lak' - is suggestive of either the colour restriction pattern associated with Burmese.
"Of magnificent appearance with shape the best, coloured like copper this cat is beautiful:
The light of her eyes is as shining ray she protects you from all danger, saves you from all evil, and brings you happiness”
But this could also describe a cat that is not expressing a Himalayan gene, but is perhaps a solid cat in the colour that we now know to be Chocolate, a much brighter and richer tone that is expressed when the Himalayan gene is not present.
'Su-Pa-Lak' - possibly indicating Burmese-Colour-Restriction
The Siamese pattern is clearly recognisable in the 'upper' cat
Other examples of cat illustrations from Thailand appear in numerous artifacts and documents of the time, many relating back to the 11th. Century AD.
While these and other ancient documents describing types of cats are objects of great beauty and mystery, they are also a fantastic record of just how ancient the genes that create the Himalayan patterns are.
These remarkable documents also indicate that these mutations that gave rise to the foundations of many breeds, occurred in South East Asia before spreading throughout the gene populations of pedigree cat breeds the world over.
The Himalayan genes, that create each of the 3 versions of the Colourpoint patterns, and in particular the version that creates the Siamese colouring and pattern, has 'migrated' through selective breeding to many breeds that now bear the pattern or as an allowable pattern.
Other breeds are derived from the Siamese pattern, ie; Birman, Ragdoll, Snow-shoe etc and whilst several colour variations are permitted within their breed standards, the colour-point pattern chiefly defines them as a breed.
Another depiction of the ' Thai-Copper'
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