It's Reigning Cats & Dogs!

The ancient Egyptians believed that cats, special animals associated with the goddess Bastet, had magical powers and shaved their eyebrows in mourning when their cats died. Cats, and other animals linked to deities, were often mummified and, if someone killed a cat, the penalty was death.
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Pictured to the right: This little fella is not quite so inscrutable but he has a specially cheeky air. In 14K gold, he shimmers too!

The ill-fated Scottish Queen, Mary, at odds in her own realm and with her Queen cousin over the border, found companionship and solace in her pet dogs. It is recorded that, after her execution in 1587, a little dog was found hidden beneath her skirts on the scaffold. Various accounts report this to have been a Skye terrier, a poodle or a spaniel, although the general consensus appears it was the terrier, called Geddon.
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Favored companion of artists, princes and movie stars, the poodle is an lively dog with a sharp intelligence. From the stately presence of the
Standard poodle, to the small toy version, the breed loves a challenge and readily adapts to company and circumstance, whether retrieving game or learning new parlor tricks.

Prince Rupert of the Rhine took his pet poodle, Boye, into battle with him. Contemporary accounts paint a vivid picture of the flamboyant Royalist, plumed and be-silked, both Prince and poodle on horseback. The Prince credited his pet with supernatural powers to terrify the parliamentarian soldiers, although this spell evidently expired since Boye was killed in the battle of Marston Moor in 1644.

John Steinbeck and his standard poodle Charley completed a 10,000 mile round trip, setting off from Long Island, New York in 1960, and the resulting travelogue, Travels with Charley, was published two years later.

In the Growling Gourmet, a cook book for dogs published in 1976, Sammy Davis Jr. sent in his baked chicken recipe, the favorite dish of his small black poodle Bojangles.

During the last part of the nineteenth century, wonderful chromolithographs were being produced in England and the United States. Shown here is an original color lithograph plate from Cassell's "The Illustrated Book of the Dog, by Vero Shaw" - The Basset Hounds "Jupiter", "Fino de Paris", and "Pallas", property of Mr. George R. Krehl.

History records many ailurophiles (cat lovers) including Sir Isaac Newton, who invented the first cat door, and the seventeenth century French Cardinal Richelieu who owned a black cat named Lucifer. President Theodore Roosevelt's cat, Slippers, is said to have attended diplomatic dinners!

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This cat is absorbed in his reading. What a great gift for anyone who appreciates the unusual.

The grinning cat is a device associated with the English county of Cheshire, home of the celebrated Cheshire cheese. Since medieval times, the carved stone figures have adorned buildings, perhaps representing the original 'cat that got the cream', from the lush countryside providing an abundance of dairy products!

Grinning like a Cheshire cat - which cat and who first remarked on this unusual, and unlikely, characteristic? The simile appears as far back as the eighteenth century, when the poet and satirist John Wolcot, wrote 'Lo! like a Cheshire cat our court will grin.' In the nineteenth century, Mr Newcome says (in Thackeray's The Newcomes: Memoirs of a most respectable Family'), 'That woman grins like a Cheshire cat.'

It is probably these and other references on which Lewis Carroll drew for his creation of the Cheshire Cat in 'Alice in Wonderland''. First encountered in the kitchen of the Duchess's house, the cat has a habit of suddenly appearing then disappearing without warning or explanation, leaving only its grin behind, and both amuses and confuses Alice with its conversations, which often include baffling philosophical points. When sentenced to death, only the cat's head can be seen and a fierce argument ensues between the King and Queen of Hearts and the executioner - can something with no body be beheaded?

Originating centuries past in China, the pug was known as the Dutch Mastiff in C16th England, where they were to became the favorite breed of the joint monarchs William and Mary. What the pug lacks in size, it more than makes up with its big heart, its loving nature and kindly disposition.

From Genghis Khan to Napoleon, no famous face is safe from canine 'actress-model' Charlie. The pug dresses as our best-known historical characters, such as Napoleon Bonapug, pictured, in a new book, Fabulous Pugs by Lisa Knapp.

'Lots of people have a rug.
Very few have a Pug.'
E.B. White
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Among some of the most famous of pug owners in recent times were the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor whose dogs accompanied on their social outings, complete with their own staff entourage including personal chefs and appointed pooper-scoopers! Napoleon's wife had a pug called Fortune who sadly did not live up to his name, being killed by her chef's bulldog. Queen Victoria, Marie Antoinette, King George 111, Princess Grace of Monaco - the pug's association with royalty is long and exalted.

The darling Dresden Pug in the picture is wearing a pink collar and is ready for adoption!

We just want to take this little cutie home with us! Theart deco dog brooch was made by the British company, Laughton and Sons of Birmingham, England, established in 1923. He is enamelled in black with a white eye and his little red tongue hangs out eagerly. He is clearly someone's pet as he wears a green ribbon around his neck.

The greyhound is another breed orignating in ancient Egypt, where it was red to hunt large game, and found its way to America with the first English settlers. The greyhound is another breed originating in ancient Egypt, where it was red to hunt large game, and found its way to America with the first English settlers. They appear in Roman and Greek mythology and are the only dog breed mentioned in the Bible. Despite their top speed of up to 45 miles per hour, the Greyhound is essentially a couch potato and belongs to the group known as sight-hounds - hunting by sight. The group includes Afghan, Saluki, Whippet. Wolfhounds and Deerhounds.

The popularity of sighthounds reached its peak during the 19th century. Whether betting vast sums on the outcome of a race or coursing event sponsored by royalty or holding an Italian greyhound on the lap, Victorians were in love.
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This Royal Hickman Sleek Black Greyhound Dogs Lamp Base circa 1938 - 1940 was selected by a national magazine as the "Outstanding Piece of Ceramic Design" for the year. Very Icart in their look, these Art Deco Canines measure twelve inches long by four inches wide by ten inches in height, there are no cracks, chips, or crazing, it is in excellent to near mint vintage condition. Ready to re-establish as a lamp, or beautiful as sculpture it is perfect for any collector.

First as a metal sculptor and potter in California, then on to Illinois, Royal Hickman worked for Haeger until 1944, but continued to contribute additional designs to the firm during the 1950s on a freelance basis. He operated studio art potteries in Tennessee and Tampa, Florida in the 40's and 50's. Hickman also designed crystal animal figurines for the Heisey Glass Company.

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