Born in 1879, to some extent at least, Sylvie has been largely overlooked as the 'genesis' of the desire to create the erroneously named 'Self-Silver', or a silver cat without tabby marks or barring, which eventually developed into what became the modern day Chinchilla.
"Amongst these outcasts, was a cat of striking beauty, whose like has not been seen again. This was 'Sylvie,' of unknown pedigree ..."
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But in fact, she caused a sensation when shown at the Crystal Palace in 1886, when she came to the attention of the judge, and was assessed by the keen and observant eyes of the ubiquitous Mr. Harrison Weir.
Although entered by her then owner, Mrs. Christopher, into the only class available to her at that time, she was an unlikely candidate for a win, being as she was forced to be entered into a mixed class of what were generally considered to be poor silver tabbies, lacking in barring.
There clearly existed an unrecognised desire amongst breeders to create a silver cat without barring, and the action of Mr. Weir in recognising the obvious qualities of a cat which most closely resembled this desire, no doubt helped to encapsulate and promote the idea amongst fanciers, who from that moment forward seemed to gain the courage to forge ahead with even more determination, in the creation and development of a clear-coated silver Persian. Harrison Weir's courage, in so doing, became the 'wind beneath the wings' to a new generation of breeders of 'chinchillas'.
