Lot 214: James Cassie (British, 1819-1879) Dogs belonging to the Duchess of Richmond & Gordon 17 x 17 in. (43 x 43 cm.)

Dogs belonging to the Duchess of Richmond & Gordon
signed 'J.Cassie' (lower right); signed and inscribed on the reverse 'Dogs belonging to the Duchess Gordon and painted for the Duchess of Richmond/ by Mr Cassie'
oil on board
17 x 17 in. (43 x 43 cm.)
circular, with a pencil head study of the artist on the reverse

According to an inscription on the reserve, the present lot was painted for the Duchess of Richmond and depicts dogs owned by the Duchess of Gordon. The title of Gordon in fact became extinct in 1836 and passed to the son of the last Duke’s eldest sister, Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond. Therefore it is unknown if Cassie refers in his inscription to one and the same person, bearing in mind that by the time this was painted, the lady in question may well have held both titles.

This aside, it is in the history of the Pekinese that the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon become interesting. The Pekingese is one of the oldest breeds of dog in the world and originates from the Forbidden City of China where for centuries, it could be owned only by members of the Imperials Palace. During the Second Opium War, in 1860, the Forbidden City was invaded by allied troops and the Emperor Xianfeng fled with his court, leaving only his Aunt and her Pekingese to protect what remained. When the Allies eventually invaded the City she had committed suicide and was found with her five Pekingese mourning her passing.

The dogs were removed by the Allies and given to a number of eminent members of the British aristocracy. Lord John Hay gave a pair to his sister the Duchess of Wellington, Sir George Fitzroy presented a pair to his cousins the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon, and Lieutenant Dunne presented the fifth dog to Queen Victoria who named it Looty. It is thought that all modern day Pekingese descend from these five dogs.