Picture of ebony Oriental Shorthair show cat

This is a Flickr photograph by Terje Sund of a black (ebony) Oriental Shorthair (OSH) at, I believe, a cat show. The photographer describes the cat as a "world winner". I believe that this cat is female. The cat looks fierce but that's just chance and misleading which can happen sometimes in photography. The cat is simply opening their mouth at the same time as the photographer took the photograph. 

Black Oriental Shorthair show cat looking aggressive. Photo: Sund

It gives an impression of aggression but I don't think this is true at all. Although the ears are flat which sorta gives the impression that the cat is trying to protect them, a precursor to aggression. However, I think this too is misleading because often Oriental Shorthair cats are bred with ears that come out of the side of the head rather than are positioned on top of the head. 

This is selective breeding and it looks odd to me and I wondered why it should happen. It should be in the breed standard but it appears not to be. The ears are meant to be "very large with a broad base and pointed. They are set so that the outer edges continue the sides of the wedge". 

There's nothing in there which indicates that they should be horizontal! I'm referring, by the way, to the World Cat Federation breed standard. I have referred to that standard because I believe that this cat is in Europe and has been bred by European breeder.

I recently wrote a short article about black Oriental Shorthair cats. This is another one and I think black goes very well with this breed because it helps to outline the body shape which is very particular for this breed being very slender. The head, too, has a particular profile with a very straight line between the forehead and the nose.

The photographer describes the picture as: Black (ebony) oriental shorthair, OSH n. World Winner, females, 2010 (St. Etienne France) and 2011 (Poland). Coco Chanel's V for Vendetta.