‘Moggy’

One rainy day many years ago, Peter Richards and his wife noticed a pair of lads who were shivering under the eaves of their cottage after getting a soaking.  The couple invited David and his friend Norman, inside to dry off and have some tea, and discovered that they were art students who were hitchhiking to London in order to visit some exhibitions.

A friendship was formed that day which continued for many years and which led to the two young men to make a ceramic sculpture of a black and white cat,  named “Moggy”, which looked similar to the couple’s pet.

It was one of six ceramic cats that were produced by the now renowned artist, Sir David Hockney, in 1955 while he was still at art school, and demonstrated his incredible skill with three-dimensional forms.

Recently, Peter who is now in his 90s, decided to auction the sculpture in order to help his grandchildren, and was thrilled when it made more than €125,000, proving the many proverbs about how it pays to be kind!