Traditional Persian Cat Picture

Beautiful Cristalline. I have not seen a more beautiful domestic cat. I can think of a ginger cat that is almost as beautiful! The traditional Persian is a refinement of the way the original Persian cats looked before they became purebred but the "refinement" and development of the breed through selective breeding has not gone as far as for the flat-faced contemporary Persian. The desire to create an extremely rounded cat with a flat face results in other elements of the cat's anatomy becoming slightly unnatural such as the smaller ears of the contemporary Persian.  The small picture on the right shows a Persian cat at around the early 1900s. The similarity with Christalline is noticeable. Today you will see Turkish Angoras in Turkey (not the more highly bred American cats) that look like traditional Persians indicating that the purebred Persian cat of today might originate in Angoras of Turkey.

This picture (left) is copyright Harvey Harrison. The doll face look of this Turkish Angora in Turkey is reminiscent of the traditional Persian. The body conformation is similar too.