Best in Show: Results From Bonhams’ Dog Sale in November 2023

On November 8, 2023, Bonhams of Edinburgh, Scotland presented its 251-lot The Dog Sale. This canine-themed event featured a full spectrum of fine and decorative art, pottery, sculpture, jewelry, and other category-spanning treasure celebrating the timeless bond between dogs and humans. Here are five sale highlights from Bonhams’ dog sale that caught the eye of bidders worldwide– and the Auction Daily team.

The top lot in this sale was #112, John Emms’ (British, 1843 – 1912) The New Forest Buckhounds. Estimated at GBP 50,000 to £70,000, it traded hands at £82,550. This oil on canvas work measured 30 inches by 43 inches and was signed and dated ‘JNO EMMS/1896’ in the lower left. It was illustrated with a pack of nine sporting dogs, two younger men, and one older man, resting along a tranquil, autumnal pathway.  
Buckhounds, which went extinct around the turn of last century, were a specialty breed of English scent hounds. Their purpose was to help sportsmen hunt fallow deer in packs. Emms had a passion for kennels and sport hunting involving dogs– and translating that interest into fine works of art. According to Bonhams’ specialists, “Emms had the rare ability to give real life to his subjects. He was at his very best when painting dogs; with confident use of fluid brushstrokes, he gives weight and solidity to their different physical characteristics as well as their individual temperaments.”

Fine art featuring one dog as its subject matter was well represented in Bonhams’ dog sale this November. Lot #101, Professor Paul Friedrich Meyerheim’s (German, 1842 – 1915) ‘Sidi’ – A Poodle with a Tennis Racket, was estimated at £6,000 to £8,000 and sold for £50,800. This oil on canvas example was inscribed, signed, and dated ‘Sidi/Paul Meyerheim/1898’ in the lower left. It featured a black poodle trimmed in a classic poodle cut; she was holding an old-fashioned looking tennis racket in her mouth, wearing a large silver medallion around her neck, and standing in a fenced yard complete with dandelions. This painting was exhibited in Berlin at the Kunst-Ausstellung (Art Exhibit) in 1899.

Meyerheim was born into a family of artists. His frequent childhood trips to the local zoo catalyzed his affinity for animals from a very young age. Today, his works are featured in fine museums across the globe, including the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, Russia, and the Märkisches Museum in Berlin-Mitte, Germany, among others. In 2008, his oil on canvas painting titled Sideshow Tricks from 1891 sold for USD 229,000 at Sotheby’s, New York.

Bronze dog sculptures were another key category in this blue ribbon sale. Lot #226, Gertrude Katherine Lathrop’s (American, 1896 – 1986) magnificent and large bronze of a Pekingese, was estimated at £10,000 to £15,000 and realized £16,640. This patinated sculpture was mounted on a rectangular base. It was signed ‘G.K. LATHROP’. The dog itself was in a resting position, with a magnificent and prominent tail and a distinctly begging expression on its lifelike face.

Like Meyerheim, Lathrop was born into a family of artists. In the early 1920s, she realized that sculpting animals truly was her calling. Her portfolio includes a number of Pekingese, ranging from newborn puppies to mature dogs in various positions. In 2016, Bonhams sold one of her Pekingese pups looking to the rear; it realized USD 6,875. The artist once noted, “I chose to model animals because of their infinite variety of form and texture and their great beauty, for even the lowliest of them have beauty, yes even the ward bug, with his magnificent tusks.”

Bonhams’ dog sale also included a full spectrum of decorative arts featuring canines. Lot #157, a large, 19th-century Staffordshire pottery model of a reclining spaniel, was estimated at £300 to £500 and made £3,200. This well-modeled dog with floppy ears and a lovely brown and tan coat lay on a green, white, and purple square cushion decorated with yellow bows on each corner. The piece measured 13 inches wide and had provenance to Howards of Aberystwyth– a legacy British company specializing in antique pottery from across the United Kingdom.

Staffordshire refers to a county in England famous for producing quality pottery starting in the 17th century. The area is rich with natural resources appropriate for earthenware, stoneware and porcelain production, including clay, salt, lead, and coal. Dog figurines are and were an important and popular part of the Staffordshire production; quality antique examples remain collectors’ favorites to this day. The first ones, in the form of Spaniels, debuted in the 1840s.

This important sale rounded out with jewelry, dog collars, inkwells, carvings, and other household and functional items. Lot #134, a late-19th-century carved wood French Poodle walking cane, was estimated at £500 to £600 and made £2,816. It measured 40.5 inches long. This black and white example was skillfully carved and featured glass eyes, a bone section, an ebonized cane, and a brass ferrule.

For more information on Bonhams’ Dog Sale from November 2023, visit LiveAuctioneers. 

Find additional auction results, including coverage of Marie-Claude Lalique’s collection of crystal at Lion & Unicorn, on Auction Daily.