2021 San Francisco Fall Show – Man’s Best Friend

October 20, 2021

The 2021 San Francisco Fall Show is now live on InCollect through October 24. Today’s blogpost explores dogs, AKA “man’s best friend”. The earliest citation of this expression in the U.S. is traced to a poem by C.S. Winkle printed in The New-York Literary Journal, Volume 4, 1821:

The faithful dog – why should I strive

To speak his merits, while they live

In every breast, and man’s best friend

Does often at his heels attend.

Here are a few lovely examples from the show:

A Rare Four-Fold Screen with panels by Maud Earl, circa 1910. Maud Earl is quite possibly one of the most famous animal and dog painters of the nineteenth century, becoming a celebrity during the Victorian era and now occupying a place in the art historical canon alongside earlier painters such as Jean-Baptiste Oudry.
From Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge: Piero Fornasetti Afghan Hound Umbrella Stand, “Levriero Afgano”, 1950s
From Barbara Israel Garden Antiques: Cast Stone Fountain, circa 1960
From Engs-Dimitri: Faience Model of a Spaniel, Mombaers Factory Brussels, 18th century
From Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge: Paintings of Hunting Dogs by Richard Dodd Widdas, English, 19th century
From James Sansum Fine & Decorative Art: English Edwardian Wicker Dog House, circa 1900

By Vera Vandenbosch