What periods do these portraits cover?

The available pieces span from the seventeenth century through the Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian eras into the mid-twentieth century. Nineteenth-century works are most common, while seventeenth and eighteenth-century examples appear alongside twentieth-century etchings and paintings.

How were spaniels portrayed in early art?

Early portraits often place spaniels beside children, nobility, or country gentlemen to signify companionship and status. They appear in formal interiors or natural landscapes, reflecting the fashions and artistic styles of periods like the Regency and English Baroque.

What materials are used besides oil paint?

Artists employed watercolours, pencil drawings, and etchings on paper alongside needlework stitched in wool. Some pieces utilise wood panels or tin plates as supports instead of traditional stretched canvas.

How do I identify a needlework portrait?

Needlework pieces from this category typically feature Berlin work wool embroidery depicting spaniels, often housed in original wooden frames like burr maple. These textile works translate the painterly traditions of dog portraiture into stitched threads.