Mastery of Design: The Diamond-Eyed Pug Snuff Box

Snuff Box
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Images Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Of Prussian origin, this snuff box of bloodstone takes the shape of a recumbent pug dog.  He sports diamond-set eyes and teeth, a tongue of rhodonite and the gold inlaid inscription "TOUJOURS FIDELE" on his collar.

The doggie sits upon a rectangular four-color gold base which has been chased with a scene of three hounds attacking a bull in a wooded landscape.

The box was given by George, Duke of Cambridge to King Edward VII.  Edward bequeathed the box to his son, King George V.

Gratuitous Bertie Dog Picture: Meat Market

"Let me know when you find a steak."

Image:  The Wildflower Gatherers, Great Britain, 1831 (made), Artist/Maker: John Linnell, born 1792 - died 1882 (painter (artist)), Oil on Panel, Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857, to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

You know you want to have a Bertie Dog mug, tee-shirt, tote bag or water bottle. You know you do. So, take a look at our online store. 

Bertie's Pet-itations: It's Caring

Here's Bertie's weekly opportunity to share his ideas for creating our new "Beautiful Age."  Bertie's advice, I'm sure, can be applied to many different areas of our lives.

And, so, I happily hand the computer over to him.


Bertie says:

I like to share.  I like to share when it's you doing the sharing.

Painting of the Day: Lady Blessington's Dog - The Barrier, 1832

Lady Blessington's Dog -- The Barrier
Sir Edwin Landseer, 1832
The Victoria & Albert Museum 
Click to Enlarge

Painted in 1832, this comic scene is the work of Sir Edwin Henry Landseer—celebrated for his intelligent portrayals of animals and a favorite painter of Queen Victoria. 

The scene depicts a mother cat separated from her kitten by a large dog who, knowingly, blocks the mother from the staircase upon which her baby has climbed.  Landseer often showed animals in comical scenes, sometimes for allegorical purposes, and sometimes just for the sheer joy and beauty of it.

This painting was commissioned by Lady Blessington and depicts her beloved dog. The dog had been given to Lady Blessington by the King of Naples.  When the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833, it was accompanied with the following lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth act I scene 7: 'Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would"/Like the poor cat I' the adage'.

Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square, Chapter 377

Chapter 377
Mr. Shakespeare


"Gerry, they'll miss us."  Gamilla giggled.

"I won't keep ya long, Mrs. Gurney."  Gerard winked, leading Gamilla into the morning room.

"Mrs. Gurney."  Gamilla sighed happily.  "Gamilla Gurney.  Mrs. Gerard Gurney."

"I like the way that sounds."  Gerard nodded, closing the door behind them.

"Gerry, honey.  We can't be away from the party.  It's for us."

"Like I said, my love, this won't take long."  Gerard smiled.

"I just don't want His Grace and Lord Colinshire to think we don't appreciate all that they done for us."

"They know how we feel 'bout it.  And, 'bout them.  And, they also know how we feel 'bout each other."  Gerard said.  "Besides, I knew you'd worry, so I told his Grace I was gonna steal ya away for a minute so I could give ya somethin'."

"What'd he say?"

"What did you think he said, Love?"

"He prob'ly said, 'Coo!  Ya go on and have yerself a time!'"  Gamilla chuckled.

"That's just 'bout exactly what he said."  Gerry nodded.

Gamilla smiled.  "You gonna give me a present?"

"I am."  Gerard replied.

"Well, I got one for you, too.  It's up in my room.  Let me run and get it."  Gamilla said.

"Not yet."  Gerard shook his head.  

"But..."

"No, Love.  Let me just give you mine first."  He rubbed his hands together.

"All right, honey."  Gamilla smiled.

"Now, ya know, I ain't got much money."  Gerard said softly.  

"You got as much as I do, honey."  Gamilla laughed.

"If it were up to me, I'd give ya a beautiful diamond like that what I bought me-self, not one given to my by His Grace for ya.  And, I'd give ya a fine party and the gown and the jewels.  I'd 'ave given ya all of that myself, if I coulda."

"My Gerry, I know.  Just as I'd 'ave given you a fine suit of clothes and a fine pocket watch like the masters gave ya.  As much as these are fine things, and as much as I love the masters for givin' 'em to us, they ain't the most important things.  Just long as I got you.  Honey, that's all I need."

"That's how I feel, too."  Gerard hugged his new wife.  "So, that's why I wanted to give ya somethin' special.  Somethin' just for us.  Just from me."

He reached into his pocket and removed a small piece of pink paper which he had cut into the shape of a heart.

"I...I know how ya like poetry."

"Oh, I do."  Gamilla nodded.  "Did you copy down a poem for me?  You're so sweet."

"No, I wrote one o' me own for ya."

"Oh, Gerry."  Gamilla gushed.

"May I read it to ya?"

"I hope you will!"

He began:

Gamilla, my love, you are my life.
Thank  you for saying you'd be me wife.
I will always love and always cherish
You until the moment we both perish.
And even after, forever and ever.
No one is finer.  No one.  Never.


Blushing, Gerard looked down and handed the poem to Gamilla.  "I know I ain't Mr. Shakespeare, but I mean it."

"It's the finest...the sweetest gift ever."  Gamilla brushed a tear from her cheek.  "I love you, Gerard Gurney."

"And, I love you, Mrs. Gurney."  Gerard squeezed her.  "But, we best get back upstairs.  No use makin' the Duke wait for Mrs. Pepper's cake."




Did you miss Chapters 1-366 of Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square?  If so, you can read them  here.  Come back tomorrow for Chapter 378.

Gifts of Grandeur: An Agate, Gold and Diamond Snuffbox and Scent Bottle, 1760

Snuffbox and Scent Bottle
1760
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This is an odd little thing, but quite spectacular. Ornately carved figures surmount a jeweled, gold-mounted a snuffbox and scent bottle. The figures have been carved to depict a seated huntsman in a tricorn hat, jacket, breeches, and boots with his dog. The man has diamond eyes and buttons in silver settings and the dog features a detachable head, diamond eyes and a champlevé enamel collar.

In the mid-Eighteenth Century when this was made, artists often made elegant objects for adults which resembled the porcelain toys made at the Chelsea and Girl with a Swing factories in England.

To make this all the more interesting, this snuffbox once belonged to the Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso (1873–1921).

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Meissen Commedia dell’Arte Figure, c. 1740

Enamel and Hard-paste Porcelain Figure
1740
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see a hard-paste porcelain figure of Harlequin propped against a tree stump, looking both mischievous and wicked as he pulls the tail of a complaining pug dog as if cranking the handle of a hurdy-gurdy. The figure is painted in enamel and gilded.

This beautiful weirdness is the work of modeler Johann Joachim Kändler for the Meissen Porcelain Factory. In the 1740s. Kaendler, created a whole array of porcelain figures. The most popular of his designs were those which depicted characters from the Italian Opera and Commedia. These were especially popular in England where Commedia’s Pulcinella had given birth to Mr. Punch in the Seventeenth Century.

The figure with others from the group.