Jacob Cats was a Dutch draughtsman and painter.

He was born in Altona, near Hamburg. He was the son of Johannes Cats, a Dutch book dealer who moved back to Amsterdam from Germany following the death of his second wife shortly after Jacob's birth.

Jacob was trained as a bookbinder and as an engraver, first under Abraham Starre and later with Pieter Louw. After further training with the pattern designer Gerard van Rossum (c. 1690-1772), he became a wallpaper painter in the Amsterdam factory of Jan Hendrik Troost van Groenendoelen, for whom he worked for three and a half years.

In May 1762, Cats established his own wallpaper factory, with financial assistance from his relati...