sutton059

https://www.webumenia.sk/dielo/SVK:SNG.O_4859 PD Whomever Colonel Ladislav Szent Ivanyi was, his dog was not only very fine, but knew how to offer a flower most winsomely.  This oil portrait by an unknown painter, dated 1756, seems to have been painted to commemorate Ivanyi's engagement to Barbara Horvath.  That's me interpreting Google Translate for Latin to English, so beware.  Is the dog offering him a flower in congratulations or to symbolize his felicitous event? Probably both.

https://www.webumenia.sk/dielo/SVK:SNG.O_4917 PD Before photographs were readily available to stuff in wallets and pockets, people often kept beloved faces close through tiny paintings.  Someone in Slovakia around 1800 - 1825 had this particular face immortalized in gouache on cardboard, measuring only 6.8 x 5.6 cm.  Portrait miniatures would be a charming fashion to revive.

thanks pixabay (cat is a model, i don't have to feed this one) (thank goodness) IN HONOUR OF TAFFY TOPAZ TAFFY, the topaz-coloured cat, Thinks now of this and now of that, But chiefly of his meals. Asparagus, and cream, and fish, Are objects of his Freudian wish; What you don't give, he steals. His gallant heart is strongly stirred By clink of plate or flight of bird, He has a plumy tail; At night he treads on stealthy pad As merry as Sir Galahad A-seeking of the Grail. His amiable amber eyes Are very friendly, very wise; Like Buddha, grave and fat, He sits, regardless of applause, And thinking, as he kneads his paws, What fun to be a cat! --  Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957.  Songs for a Little House.  New York: George H. Doran co, 1917. p. 25.

www.rijksmuseum.nl http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.7386 Coenraad van Heemskerck is portrayed here in all his stateliness, thanks to Dutch painter Mattheus Verheyden .  Van Heemskerck was a diplomat and politician,  Count of the Holy Roman Empire, and Lord of Achttienhoven and Den Bosch.  Last but not least, he had this very happy dog:

Nissin Seifun is a large Japanese food conglomerate that includes a line of pet food.  In 2010 the company celebrated 100 years of business in a most delightful way: they commissioned a commercial from Studio Ghibli. Yes, the source of My Friend Totoro , Kiki's Delivery Service , Spirited Away , and Howl's Moving Castle , to name a very few of their masterworks. Studio Ghibli presented Nissin Seifun with Konyara, a rotund cat sketched in a sumi-ink style, rolling round after Nissin's red butterfly logo. The spot was such a hit that two more were made adding some rolypoly kittens into the mix.  All three are elegantly adorable.  Want to see them?  All three are available in this article at Open Culture . Want to see the company's page on Konyara, complete with some sweet wallpapers for download?  Right here .

www.metmuseum.org Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Gift, 1992 This terracotta relief shows a royal family taking their ease in the company of a few pets. There's mother, father, child, tubby dog having a howl (lower left, on a chain), ducks (lower right) and, partially missing, a monkey (just above the dog).  Expressive and even playful, this scene dates from India during the 1st century BC, and was found at the important Chandraketugarh archaeological site.  ( Here is this object's page at the Metropolitan Museum of Art if you'd enjoy more source information.)  What sort of dog might have been around to pamper at that time and place? Sometimes the easiest answer makes the best sense: this looks to me like a well-fed Indian pariah dog , an ancient breed which would have been commonly available. 

www.rijksmuseum.nl (PD) https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/RP-P-OB-16.632 This strong, playful image of two hedgehogs meeting over an ivy leaf dates from - hold on to your hat - 1892.  It's by Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof (Dutch, 1866-1924), one of the more important figures in Dutch Art Nouveau. You'll spot a theme when I tell you that the Dutch variant of Art Nouveau was called Nieuwe Kunst; both titles mean "New Art."  In Germany it was called Jugendstil, "youth style," and in Austria, Sezessionstil ("Secession style," that is, created by artists who had seceded from accepted art styles).There's a lot going on in the ideas behind Art Nouveau, and you might enjoy reading more about it on this very informative page .  Where I feel it begins is in its drive toward making even everyday useful things beautiful, in its celebration of sinuous lines, and not least in its delight in natural forms, as we see here.  This seems to have been a vignette ...

thanks pixabay (CC0 Creative Commons) In the poem below, the living Cat, and the Cat living at Bristol, is one and the same, and he's named Cropps.  Just so you know going in. LINES Addressed to a living Cat, and to a Cat living at Bristol. (Written at Bristol at the Request of her Mistress.) O CAT! thy virtues to rehearse, Does honor to my feeble verse; Sure never cat was like to thee, Such qualities in you I see; So kind, so faithful, and so good, You must be born of noble blood; So restless after rats and mice, You scent, then kill 'em in a trice, If at them you can get, and if not, Your mistress moves away the black pot At your request, who, purring, ask Her to perform that grateful task. You watch your mistress while asleep, And on her breast most faithful keep. O, Cropps! still may you long survive All other cats that near you live; When they lie mould'ring in the dust, May you drink milk to quench your thirst; While they are rotting in the grave, May you the house fr...

I found a book of charms, prayers and magic songs from the prehistoric Finnish people.  There's words of healing power (for hiccups, a lizard bite, when torn by a wolf or bear); words to chant to attract love, to repulse love, to avoid the cowhouse snake; prayers against wasps and elf-shots. Here's a prayer to silence a dog: Field maiden, farmyard girl! O golden king of earth, here where they need thee, come from the field with thy family to close the mouth of a dog, to plug the nozzle of a whelp. Bind silk across its eyes, tie a bandage round its ears, a mushroom up one nostril thrust, an apple up the other one, lest it should scent the breath of man, perceive the smell of a full-grown man, lest it should hear a passer- by, lest it should see a wanderer. Try it and let me know if it works!  There's two more in the book, if this one doesn't do the trick. Abercromby, John Abercromby, baron, 1844-1924. The Pre- And Proto-historic Finns, Both Eastern And Western, With the ...

thanks british library flickr From a slim volume of verse privately printed in 1910: (You know what's coming, right?  Bad poetry! ) THE MANX CAT by Marjorie Dyrenforth Poor tailless pussy cat! if I Were only very rich, The very first thing I would buy Would be for you a switch; And where your tail should grow, I'd try The little switch to hitch — oh, my! But what a pretty pussy cat You'd be if I could just do that! -- Dyrenforth, Marjorie. Verses. Chicago, 1910. p. 59.

Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment https://www.freersackler.si.edu/object/F1953.31/ Leave it to the cat to find the warmest, cushiest seat handy, even if it's on the human.  This work by the great Persian miniaturist Reza Abbasi (c. 1565-1635) is titled "Man with Cat," and though it measures merely 3 11/16" x 2 x 1/16" it has a snug presence. Abbasi was celebrated for the grace and versatility of his lines, and you can see that very well here. Compare the bold strokes that establish the man's body with the sketched, washed lines of the tree, and then the incredibly fine work of the cat's face as he savors his perch.

June 4-11 is Pet Appreciation Week, and in its honor, Washington's State Art Collection has presented a selection of  creatures in artworks statewide.  There's two Kelly Lyles pieces in this list! Yay! Look at the list here .

The American symbolist painter Elihu Vedder (1836-1923) spent part of his childhood in Cuba.  After a while his parents thought the climate too hot for his health, and he was sent back to the care of his grandparents in New York.  As he writes in his memoir The Digressions of V. , he left one particular friend behind him: ...I began to look sallow, and was packed off North. But I left one broken heart behind me, that of poor Cottorita, my parrot. She had been given me very young, and loved as only a parrot or dog can love. I have always been sorry that I did not take the dear thing with me, for she went about for three days after my departure, calling, " Nino Elijio! Nino Elijio! " and then flew away and was never seen again. When I went to the Spanish school she would station herself at the house-door and wait patiently until I came back, and then, climbing up, never quitted my shoulder. When I remember that a parrot can live a hundred years, there is no reason why she ...

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Friends of Arthur B. Duel https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/207663?position=106 Only 8 5/8 x 7 5/16 in., this surimono print by Totoya Hokkei (Japanese, 1780-1850) is a little treat of a print.  As it happens, that's what surimono prints were meant to be; they're specially commissioned images for a private group.  They might be a gift, or an announcement; they were not available to the general public.  This "Cat and Butterfly," from around 1825, is from Hokkei's series A Collection of Thirty-Six Birds and Animals ( Sanjûroku tori zukushi ).  Oftentimes surimono contained poetry, and were commissioned by the poets.  If that's the case here, and if that calligraphy above is a poem, I wish I could find a translation.  Whose kitten got to play with a butterfly kite? I have not been able to find all 36 prints in one place to show you, but I'd like you to see a few more.  Have a lo...

Bayard Taylor (American, 1825-58) was a diplomat, traveler, and poet.  His adventures included backpacking through Europe for two years, writing a song for Jenny Lind, tracking part of the Nile, sailing along on Perry's voyage to Japan, and being appointed to the U.S. diplomatic service in Russia. Tired yet?  He did far more.  You can read about it here . One small little adventuresome act is my post for today.  On a visit to Barnum's Museum , Taylor spotted a lonely-looking hippo.  Being a man of great sympathy with animals, he decided to reach out: "In the first place, animals have much more capacity to understand human speech than is generally supposed. Some years ago, seeing the hippopotamus in Barnum's Museum looking very stolid and dejected, I spoke to him in English, but he did not even move his eyes. Then I went to the opposite corner of the cage and said in Arabic: 'I know you; come here to me.' He instantly turned his head toward me. I repeated the wo...

Dog in Feathered Hat and Ruffled Collar Matchsafe, late 19th century; England; silver; 5.9 x 2.7 x 1.5 cm (2 5/16 x 1 1/16 x 9/16 in. ); Gift of Stephen W. Brener and Carol B. Brener; 1982-23-1324 collection.cooperhewitt.org Before matchbooks were common ( they were developed in 1892 ), here's how you carried around your matches.  Friction matches - the kind we know, that you scratch against a surface to ignite - were originally very touchy, and could light up simply from jostling about in your pocket.  What better to keep them safe than a metal box?  I wonder if any ever lit up inside their box and made an inadvertent handwarmer.  If you'd like to learn more about matchsafes, you might enjoy this site on their history . This box dates from late 19th century England.  The additional images found at its record page at the Cooper-Hewitt show a dog dressed up in Cavalier-style hat and ruff.  Is this meant to be a Cavalier King Charles spaniel?  

thanks pixabay From a collection of dog-tales sent by readers to The Spectator : {July 28, 1888.] A recent anecdote from one of your correspondents about a dog and a hen brought to my mind an incident, related to me by an eye-witness, of a dog who had a constant feud with the fowls, which were prone to pilfer from the basin containing his dinner. On one occasion he was lying in front of his kennel, quietly watching a hen as she made stealthy and tentative approaches to his basin, which at length she reached and looked into, finding it perfectly empty. The dog wagged his tail. J. R. -- Dog Stories From the "Spectator": Being Anecdotes of the Intelligence, Reasoning Power, Affection And Sympathy of Dogs, Selected From the Correspondence Columms of "The Spectator" . New York: Macmillan, 1895. pp. 168-9

found at discardingimages.tumblr.com These scribbled little buddies hang out in a manuscript of theological miscellany dating from the 15th century (Saint-Denis, Paris,  Bibliothèque Mazarine, ms. 988, fol. 124r).  I tried to find the original manuscript page to link and show you, but I do not search well in French, it turns out.  Here is the link to the Bibliotheque Mazarine - I bet you'll do better than I did!