PRINT Mouseman (CC038) Art Print by Colin Batty

The original cabinet card has sold, but you can purchase a high quality print of Mouseman in several sizes. The Tale of Jonathan "Mouseman" Murch  In the damp alleys of East End London, the legend of Jonathan Murch is still whispered over candlelight. A tailor by trade, Jonathan was known for two things: his impeccable velvet waistcoats and the peculiar habit of never being seen without gloves, even in summer.   Locals claimed his ancestors had been cursed generations ago after a Murch great-grandfather cheated a Romani merchant out of a bolt of fine silk. The curse, they said, would manifest in the first-born of every fourth generation—ears long, nose twitching, teeth sharp enough to shear through thread without scissors.  Jonathan was that child.  By day, he kept his head down, sewing in the dim light of his workshop. By night, he was said to move with unnatural swiftness across the rooftops, his keen hearing attuned to the sound of coin purses, his nose twitching at the scent of bread cooling in a kitchen window.  The police blamed him for a string of “disappearances” in Spitalfields—none of which could be proven—but the most chilling detail in the stories was this: in every home robbed, there was a single gift left behind. A small, perfect velvet waistcoat… sized for a rat.  And some swore that, if you left it out under the full moon, it would be gone by morning—replaced by something far less welcome. ❦ Colin Batty is an artist from Manchester, UK. He has worked on countless cool projects including Tim Burton's, Mars Attacks, the Oscar nominated short, The Sandman, Eddie Murphy's, The PJ's and many, many more. Colin has contributed to Freakybuttrue for many years and graces this site with his amazing designs, incredible sculptures, comics and his world famous cabinet card paintings and so much more. Each original cabinet card is a genuine one hundred year old (or more) photograph on which Colin directly paints. Photographs of this age are often creased, scratched, deteriorated, and otherwise worn. Colin often utilizes the character of the wear to find inspiration.