In the Dog House
Indoor dog kennels, or “chenils,” became popular with aristocratic pet owners in 18th-Century Europe. Considered part of domestic furnishings, many would have been designed by an architect using neoclassical decorative features, and likely made to match architectural features of the room for which they were intended.
Such neoclassical kennels don’t come any more elaborate than the gray-painted and parcel-gilt kennel sold by Christie’s in London in 1996 for £9,000 against a top estimate of £5,000. In the shape of a classical building with an ecclesiastical-style domed top, the central arched opening enclosed a green velvet-covered buttoned cushion. It was sold when Christie’s sold the much-hyped collection of dog and cat art assembled by Count Alarico Palmieri, the kennel having previously been in the collection of the distinguished actor Carlton Hobbs.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a neoclassical kennel that was made for one of French Queen Marie-Antoinette’s dogs, possibly Coco. Made from gilded beech and pine covered in velvet panels, the interior has cushions and a lining of striped silk. It was designed not only to offer the most elegant quarters for the Queen’s pet but also to complement the rest of the furnishings in the royal suite. Bonhams in their recent Dog Sale sold a similar 20th-Century example in mahogany and red velvet for a mid-estimate £1,024.
Dreweatts sold a fruitwood kennel, late 18th or early 19th century, with panelled sides, canted roof and arched entrance, suitable for a small-sized dog. There were signs that it had been much used. Dreweatts had expectation of up to £800 but it was knocked down for £4,000, which took the auction house by surprise. A provenance can make all the difference, and it was the provenance that went with the kennel that ignited a minor bidding war. It had been sold by the venerable London firm of Spinks in February 1933, when it had been catalogued as “Charles II walnut dog kennel from the Duchess of Hamilton’s Collection. This was given by D. of H. to the seller. D. of H. stated that it had been given to her by a lady who stated it had been in her family for very many years.” It sold in 1933 for £20.
What looks like a traditional Welsh dresser base with three drawers and cupboards beneath with panelled doors, circa 1820-40, is more than it first seems. The central arched opening is a kennel for a dog, something not unknown in country furniture of the period. It was offered for sale with Howard and Howard for £895.
There cannot be too many Grade 1 listed dog kennels, but one stands in the courtyard to Ightham Mote in Kent. With a tiled roof and carved woodwork above the opening, it was made in 1890 for a St. Bernard named Dido. Dido was allegedly so huge that she was given her food in a washing-up bowl.
The origins of the house date from 1340, and it is the most complete medieval manor house in the United Kingdom. Over the centuries it has passed through many ownerships, being bought in 1952 by the American businessman Charles Henry Robinson from Portland, Maine. He had known the property from vacations in England, and by chance happened to see the house for sale in Country Life. He made many urgent repairs and partly refurnished the house with 17th-Century English pieces. He lived there for only 14 weeks a year for tax reasons, and in 1995 announced that he was giving the house and contents to the National Trust.
Possibly one of the earliest dog kennels is a plain stone one with an arched opening. It dates from the 14th Century and is in a courtyard at the Villa Rufolo at Ravello on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. In the past, the Villa has been home to several popes, as well as King Robert of Anjou. The proportions of the kennel and its positioning suggest it was built for a guard dog, one of Neapolitan Mastiff proportions. The view from the Villa is one of the most photographed along the Amalfi Coast. Today Villa Rufolo’s gardens stage world-class concerts during the town’s annual arts fair.
The American breeder of Mastiffs, Marie Antoinette Moore, formed a collection of Mastiff art the importance of which cannot be underestimated, much of which is illustrated in her excellent book “The Mastiff” (1978). Her intention was to leave the bulk of the collection to Lyme Hall, a National Trust property in England.
Long before her death she sent selected pieces over with a request as to how they were to be displayed. On a visit to England, she paid an unannounced visit to Lyme and to her dismay discovered that some of the pieces were in store. She had everything shipped back to America. What was England’s loss became America’s gain, for much of her collection is now with the AKC Museum of the Dog.
The importance of Lyme Hall to the breed goes back to 1415 and the Battle of Agincourt. The severely wounded Sir Piers Legh was guarded by his faithful Mastiff bitch, who had accompanied him to battle. He died in Paris from his wounds and his body returned to England, together with the Mastiff bitch, who in the meantime had given birth to puppies. The Legh family have always accepted the story as fact and considered that the Mastiffs who survived at Lyme from Agincourt to the 1914-18 war were her lineal descendants.
Thomas Legh, the second Baron Newton, had the last of the Lyme Mastiffs destroyed during World War I, considering it to be an act of patriotism due to the food shortages. The range of purpose-built kennels, which are now Grade II listed, were constructed of buff sandstone at the end of the 19th Century and were the home of the last Lyme Hall Mastiffs.
The unusual wooden travelling dog kennel was made in Detroit in the early 1900s by A. Backus, Jr., & Sons. The company specialised in the manufacture of dog kennels, crates and woven boxes. Designed for shipping dogs, the kennel features an arched roof, with a door in the front and a spring-loaded chute above for food.