Colonial Dog Show

A Discussion of Dogs in Art and History

Have you ever walked through a museum and noticed that many portraits include four-legged side kicks?   From prehistoric rock art to royal Renaissance portraiture, dogs and humans in art are a combination that will endure for as long as the species survive.  The trend was especially popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.  In fact, one of the portraits in the Hammond-Harwood House shows an elegant lady holding a petite spaniel--probably a King Charles Spaniel. This portrait was painted around 1720 and is attributed to R. Dellor, an artist from the Kneller school.  The image depicts Margaret Frances Townley Chase, a grandmother of one of the owners of the Hammond-Harwood House.  Why was Mrs. Chase pictured holding her toy companion?  The presence of the dog obviously points to her love for the animal.  According to one 16^th century source, such small dogs “were chiefly sought after for the amusement and pleasure of women.  The smaller the kind the more pleasing it is, so that they may carry them in their bosoms, in their, beds, and in their arms, and in their carriages.  [These] kinds of dogs are altogether useless for any other purposes, except that they ease the pain of the stomach, being often applied to it, or frequently born of the bosom of the diseased person, by the moderation of their vital heat.”  Lap dogs, like the tiny spaniels, also served the practical function of keeping fleas at bay--at least while the dog was present fleas were more interested in it than in their human hosts.  In an age when the plague was a constant threat, dogs were life savers.  Still, it was believed that dogs “with no practical function” were the ultimate expressions of luxury and affluence. 

Is there anything else that the presence of these pets tell us?  With an unbreakable bond to his master, a dog frequently symbolized loyalty.  Thus, the dog sitting in Mrs. Chase’s lap reasserts her loyalty to her husband.  Indeed, the griffin terrier pictured in the famous van Eyck marriage portrait the Arnolfini Wedding  seems to embody the couple’s undying affection and fidelity to each other.  (Although some scholars argue that the dog in this image represents carnal desire). If a dog were featured with a widow, that dog might represent the widow’s loyalty to her husband’s memory.  In the same sense, Kings and Princes were often pictured with large, powerful dogs as conspicuous symbols of their own strength and vitality.  In Sir Anthony van Dyck's image of the Children of Charles I, a giant mastiff yields to the future King of England. 

Sometimes, the presence of a dog in a portrait revealed nothing more than the sitter's absolute adoration for his pet.    In Annapolis, colonial portrait painter Charles Willson Peale provides an irrefutable example of this theory.  Peale was born in Chestertown, Marylan,d in 1741.  At an early age, Peale was apprenticed to a saddler and later started his own saddle making business.  In 1763, Peale studied painting with Annapolis artist John Hesselius, and by 1765 he was studying painting with Boston painter John Singleton Copley and later with British painter Benjamin West.  It was soon evident that Peale was a major talent, painting 14 likenesses of General George Washington with hundreds of a prominent colonial men and women also in his portfolio. 

During the Revolutionary War, Peale served as an officer in the Continental Army.  Years later, the Peale’s home became a kind of soup kitchen and shelter for wandering soldiers.  In gratitude for the Peale’s hospitality, one penniless soldier pulled a tiny puppy from under his coat and presented it to the family.  The veteran vowed that the pup would guard the family until its death.  It was said that one day when Peale was shopping at the Annapolis market, a thief ran away with his basket, and the dog hunted the thief down and held him at bay until the basket was recovered by its rightful owner. This was all done amidst a crowd of cheering citizens.  This brave dog was named Argus, after the greyhound in Homer’s epic tale The Odyssey,  and he was so loved that in the first decade of the 19th century, Charles Willson Peale painted the pointer mix into the foreground of any existing family portrait.  Understandably, when Argus died, Peale wrote a touching elegy in honor of his friend:

             Full seventeen revolving years,          
            Since first began his watchful cares,
            Their wanted course have run.
            We found him in a soldier’s arms,
            who weak and feeble asked alms,
            and gave him in return.

Click here to take a look at some of the breeds at the 
Hammond-Harwood House's Colonial Dog Show...photos 
courtesy Eileen Edelblute of Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue.

A special thank-you to everyone who participated in the Colonial Dog Show at the Hammond-Harwood House !  Look for it again soon!