Book review by Simon Parsons

Truly a feast

Most breeds have the ability to attract lifelong loyalty among their owners but some seem to have that little extra which inspires something akin to obsession. One of these is undoubtedly the Pug.

Inevitably breeds with this superabundance of charm tend to be those which are most celebrated in art, and so it proves with the Pug. Therefore, needless to say, Nick Waters’ compendium, ‘The Pug: Heritage and Art’, is truly a feast for the canine art enthusiast, being superbly produced in hardback with at least one, often more, illustrations on almost every page, the vast majority reproduced beautifully in colour.

The book starts with the breed’s royal connections which in Europe date back, arguably, to William The Silent in sixteenth century Netherlands, and continue trough Marie Antoinette and Napoleon’s Josephine.

Our own Queen’s Victoria large canine family included a number of Pugs, who live on in portraits by Charles Burton Barber, but the British royals with whom the breed is most closely associated were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, for whom ‘the Pugs were the children they never had’.

“Their dogs were sometimes adorned with winged collars and bow ties and were frequently the guest of honour at the dog parties fashionable in Paris from the 1950s”, says Nick.

After the Duchess’ death their house and contents were bought by Mohamed Al Fayed, and some years later the contents were sold in New York, including of course all their Pug memorabilia. Indeed the sale was preceded by a Pug tea-party attended by 120 dogs!

The pieces, thanks to their unique provenance, fetched way above estimate, even when heavily restored. Ribbons won by their champion, Imp, were among the items auctioned, along with, perhaps most poignantly, the Pug pillow and printed cotton Pugs which had been in the Duchess’ bedroom right until her death.

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