Christian the Lion is an NFT

The first ever Christian the Lion NFT. Photograph by Derek Cattani

In the 1960’s Harrods truly was the place where you could buy anything and two Australians, Anthony ‘Ace’ Bourke and John Rendall made an eye popping purchase. A lion cub named Christian.

The lion cub joined them in their Kings Road apartment above their furniture shop, aptly named Sophisticat. Together they had quite the adventure, an astonishing friendship between animal and human was beautifully photographed by Derek Cattani.

Cattani says of his time with them “John and Ace wanted me to capture Christian as the friendly and amazingly inquisitive lion he really was. Christian would wander around the flat and I would have great fun posing him with his paws on top of the television, playing with chicks for a famous Easter newspaper publication, or even sitting in the back of a convertible car driving down the Kings Road in Chelsea.”

Cattani is now dedicated to the charity LionAid - that is raising awareness about the plight of lions. Since Ace and John rewilded Christian 50 years ago the lion population in the wild has been decimated. There are now fewer than 10,000 lions in the wild, with trophy hunting and conflict with humans further eroding the population.

Cattani has created the first ever Christian the Lion NFT’s with Alamy. These are beautiful works of art and a way to contribute to raising awareness and protecting these magnificent creatures.

An NFT of Christian the Lion. Photographed by Derek Cattani

As Cattani says “These NFTs take you back to a scene you could never imagine now – a lion living in a central London apartment.”

An NFT of Christian the Lion. Photographed by Derek Cattani

We are excited to feature never before seen photographs and an interview with Derek Cattani in our next publication, the STORY issue. We will also be supporting LionAid with signed photographs by Derek Cattani. Something to look forward to.