Pugs in Art

There are just a handful of breeds that can trace their purity of type back over the centuries, and one of those is the Pug.

The origin of the European as well as that of the Chinese Pug-Dog is wrapped in obscurity. Modern European trade with China by sea dates from about 1516, when the Portuguese started trading at Canton. The Spanish traded in 1575 from Manila and the Dutch in 1604 at Amoy and Formosa. There have been many theories put forward and many questions asked about the origin of the breed, but there are no definitive answers, all of which only adds to the appeal of the Pug.

It is a reasonable assumption that had the House of Nassau-Orange not taken up the breed it would not have achieved the popularity that it has and the lasting regard in which it is held.

It was in 1710 that the Meissen factory became the first in Europe to be able to make porcelain, and by then the breed was already a favorite with royal and other titled families. In 1733 Henrich Count von Brühl became president of the treasury board that had control of the factory. The von Brühl family were enthusiastic Pug owners, and it was Heinrich and sculptor Johann Joachim Kändler who jointly were responsible for the great tradition of Meissen Pugs.

By this time Freemasonry had become a society acceptable to all classes, and the then-Pope, Clement XII, became so concerned about the power that members of the society could have that he decreed that Freemasonry was not compatible with the Catholic religion. The excommunicated Freemasons, under the insignia of the then fashionable Pug to conceal their identity, continued to function in hiding. The Meissen model from 1745 of a Freemason with his defecating Pug could have been Meissen’s way of saying just what they thought of Pope Clement XII.

During the first half of the 19th Century, two strains of Pugs developed that would stop the rot and eradicate as much as possible the false element of Bulldog and Terrier from the Pug’s physiognomy. The Morrison strain was derived from Dutch dogs, and the Willoughby strain, which would have the more lasting impact, from either Russian Pugs or those of a Hungarian countess living in Vienna, depending on which authority one accepts.

With the impact the Willoughby Pugs had on the breed before the formation of the Kennel Club in 1872, it is perhaps fitting that Lord Willoughby de Eresby bred the first Pug entered in the first volume of the Kennel Club Stud Book. The English School painting of circa 1850 shows “Mops” with a ball (above). She was one of the foundation bitches of the Willoughby Pugs and helped establish the clear fawn color. The 1877 painting by Louis Grey of a sitting Pug wearing a collar with bells attached (below) is reputed to be one of the last Willoughby Pugs.

Fairings are small souvenirs that were sold at country fairs, hence the name. The majority were manufactured in Germany by Conta and Boehme between 1850 and 1890 using mass production methods. Then other unknown German manufacturers took over until 1914, when trade ceased due to World War I. “The Orphans,” two Pugs sitting on a chair with a third beside them, was one of the most popular of all German fairings.

The practice of cold-painting bronze sculptures emerged for the Viennese bronze industry of the mid-19th Century, with sculptures quickly becoming renowned for the high standard of finish, the realistic depiction of the subjects and the playful designs. The number and variety of dogs produced are many. Considering the smallness of size, the rowing group of a Pug coxswain and three Pug oarsmen is particularly well modelled and also a rarity.

Tucked away in the English countryside a few miles north of the English Channel is a building one would not expect to find in such a rural location, Glyndebourne Opera House. John Christie had recently married small-time opera singer Audrey Mildway 18 years his junior and with whom he was infatuated. Over dinner one evening John confided to Audrey his plans to extend the Organ Room into a modest theater where the new Mrs. Christie might sing principal parts. But Audrey had other ideas and proclaimed: “If you are going to spend all that money, John, for God’s sake do the thing properly.” Glyndebourne Festival Opera opened in May 1934 with a two-week season of Mozart operas. Today, Glyndebourne is one of the leading opera houses in the world, attracting principal stars from the world of opera and staging major productions.

The Christie family have always been, and still are, enthusiastic Pug owners. Looking over the opera house are what is affectionately known as “The Three Graces.” The stone column commemorates the founder John Christie and his wife Audrey, on top of which sit two lifesize Pugs carved in Portland stone by Louis Grey, one of the sculptors who worked on the monument to “Animals in War” in Park Lane, London. The Pugs were modelled on Sir George and Lady Christie’s dog “Phoebe.” The Pugs support a bronze bust of John Christie modelled by Oscar Newman, whose sculptures of the good and the great have included Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Winston and Lady Churchill, and Baroness Margaret Thatcher.

The appeal of the paintings by Beryl Cook OBE is their directness, exuberance and the instant laughter they create. Her characters are always well upholstered and enjoying themselves to the full, as is the case with “Who Said Liberace?” a departure from her usual human characters. One Pug sits on a red cushion being entertained by another plonking away on a piano complete with Liberace candelabra.

My final “offering” in this miscellany of Pug artefacts is a small hexagonal occasional table circa 1930, the top painted with a fawn Pug wearing a collar with bells attached.