In 1912, Edouard Marcel Sandoz hand-carved a sculpture of owl, which (like Francois Pompon’s Polar Bear),  became his  signature creation. This cubist sculpture of a cat is very modern for its time and is considered to be one of the first examples of a cubist asesthetic applied to animal sculpture.

Like the owl, the "Seated Cat" evokes  a sense of purity and balance through geometric its form. This is further accentuated by the choice of black Belgian marble, which gives a sense of opulence to the sculpture. The graceful posture of the cat is also reminiscent of Egyptian ritual statuary of the Middle Kingdom. The piece was a tremendous success, and was cast in bronze by the Valsuani foundry from 1922 onward.

The artist conceived this sculpture in 1912 (the same year as his "Owl"). A dated small plaster version of the "Seated Cat," already decisively modern and pure in form, is conserved in Sandoz family archives. As World War I descended upon Europe, it became increasingly difficult to produce artwork and Sandoz could only hand-carve the "Seated Cat" around 1920-21.

This work is a very rare example to Eduard Marcel Sandoz’s sculpture in the market today.