The Smoke Persian is a variety of the Persian family, whose rich colouring explains the strong devotion of its fans and its return on the front stage of the world of cat fancy.
Although the Persian is the star of the world of cat fancy, and it is the favourite breed in several countries, such as France or the USA, many of its varieties or colourings are quite underrated. The Persian distinguishes itself by its amazing number of coat colours, which are now integrated for the shows in different divisions or classes.
The breed can be seen in hundreds of ads, and it makes the happiness of uncountable households around the world… yet, behind its splendid beauty, the Persian keeps on being mysterious under many respects. You fell for the Chinchilla Persian, you know the breed standard like the back of your hand, and maybe you dared to discover the particularities of the Smoke Persian… but do you really know this variety as good as you think you do? For the Cat Fanciers’ Association – the most important cat association in the world – the smoke entirely deserves this renewed interest: “The smoke Persian is one of the most striking patterns of the Persian colours. There are six separate colours, black, blue, cream, cameo (red), smoke tortoiseshell and blue-cream smoke. In repose, the smoke appears to be a solid colour cat. In motion, the coat will break open, giving glimpses of a startling white undercoat. All should have the characteristic white ruff and ear tufts. The perfect balance of undercoat to overcoat is transitory and the perfection of colour balance can usually only be seen six to eight weeks annually. Their brilliant copper eyes seem almost like burning embers within the smoke setting.”
One of the first authors on the Smoke Persian was Donald Martin. In 1963, he published an article entitled “Breeding Smoke Persian”, in which he dealt mostly with the particularity of its coat pattern and colours. “Originally, the smoke came from a tabby in which the gene for marking mutated and, instead of producing black markings on top of a silver white coat, the mutation gave a solid black coat on top of the white.” The diversity of the colourings must not make you forget that the Smoke is above all a Persian, and that its morphology must meet the all the criteria in the breed standard, from the type of the head and its expression, to the shape and setting of the ears, the general built (body, bone structure…) and the coat (coat and undercoat). Breeders admit that it takes a lot of time and work to obtain a characteristic coat. When the kitten is born, it may sometimes take weeks before the wanted colours appear. What’s more, this cat requires even more regular care and grooming than the other more “classical” varieties, all the more so if it is a show cat.
According to Pat Lichtenberg, a breed expert, the “black smoke” can be considered as one of the Persian’s original colour. This means that the “smoke” has existed for many centuries, as the Persian, whose native country was Iran before being glorified and promoted by the British, is one of the oldest cat breeds in the world. The Blue Smoke came later, as well as the other patterns now recognised. At that time, the smoke was judged in a class called AOC – for Any Other Colour”. Then it was integrated within the smoke and shaded Persians division, besides the other classes, the Bi Colour, Tabby, Solid, etc. And in recent years, the specialists have observed that the Smoke Persian had nothing to envy its cousins: “As more breeders became interested in the smoke, the type began to improve dramatically. Today's smokes can compete with any of their Persian counterparts!” says Pat Lichtenberg.
But it was a long and hard road, to reach today’s situation. Indeed, the Smoke Persians fell into oblivion for decades. In the USA, the United Kingdom or on the continent, very few breeders paid any attention to it. After WW II, the smoke was almost extinct. The Smokes only truly came back on the front of the stage at the end of the 1960’s, when a few implied and devoted breeders decided to show what they could do, and that their Smoke Persians could rival in shows with the best cats and also that they could charm the Persians fanciers. Nowadays, the Smoke has conquered the hearts of many a cat fancier, and some will only mention the Smoke when they talk about the Persians!Some breeders have even specialised exclusively in this variety with its unique, but hard to fix coat. On the Internet, a web ring with tens of breeders will allow you to discover all the riches of this extraordinary cat; have a look by clicking there: http://www.smokepersians.com/ . In Sweden, France, the United kingdom, Russia, the USA, Belgium, Australia, and many other countries, breeders and fanciers are more and more numerous and implied, so that the Smoke can find again its past glory.
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