Some
Other Facts You Might Like to Know About Papillons
General Standards & History in Renaissance Paintings
General Appearance
The Papillon is a small, friendly, elegant toy dog of fine-boned structure,
light, dainty and of lively action; distinguished from other breeds by
its beautiful butterfly-like ears.
Temperament Happy, alert and friendly. Neither shy nor aggressive.
Size, Proportion, Substance
Size - Height at withers, 8 to 11 inches. Proportion - Body must be slightly longer than the height
at withers. Weight is in proportion to height.
Substance - Of fine-boned structure.
Coat
Abundant, long, fine, silky, flowing, straight with resilient quality,
flat on back and sides of body. A profuse frill on chest. There is no
undercoat. Hair short and close on skull, muzzle, front of forelegs, and
from hind feet to hocks. Ears well fringed, with the inside covered with
silken hair of medium length. Backs of the forelegs are covered with feathers
diminishing to the pasterns. Hind legs are covered to the hocks with abundant
breeches (culottes). Tail is covered with a long, flowing plume. Hair
on feet is short, but fine tufts may appear over toes and grow beyond
them, forming a point.
The Papillon is a small dog breed with distinctive large, fringed ears
that earned it its name, the French word for butterfly. The Papillon is
believed to be one of the oldest of the toy breeds. Though known to be
reserved with strangers, these dogs can also be protective of a human
family member, and are good alarm dogs while still affectionate to those
they know. Papillons are very athletic, enjoying running or chasing, but
usually enjoy staying indoors.
Activity
In recent years, the Papillon has become a small dog star in the
sport of dog agility. This sport consists of an obstacle course
with tunnels, jumps, A-frames, and narrow bridges that a dog completes
at top speed aided only by verbal and body-language commands from a handler.
Agility requires the dog to spring, scramble, weave, and turn on a dime.
The breed is considered naturally agile, and Papillons compete at both
national and international trials. Because many Papillons have intense
drive and natural speed, their tiny turning radius gives them an edge
over larger dogs, and some Papillons are capable of beating Border Collie
speeds on some courses. At the same time, Papillons excel in companionship
and lap dog sweepstakes, and take it very seriously.
History
The History of the Papillon is traced through works of art.The earliest
toy spaniels resembling the Papillon are found in Italy. Tiziano Vicelli
(Titian) painted these small dogs in many famous paintings including the
Venus of Urbino (1542). Other well known artists who included them in
paintings are Watteau, Gonzalez Coques, Fragonard and Mignard. In a painting
after Largillierre in the Wallace Collection in London, a Papillon is
clearly shown in a family portrait of Louis XIV. Papillons are also in
paintings of royal families around Europe and paintings of merchant class
families. The breed was popular in France and Belgium which are considered
counties of origin by the FCI.
The Papillon and Marie Antoinette
King Henry II allegedly spent upwards of 100,000 crowns on his papillons.
Marie Antoinette owned a Phalene, of many believed to be Papillon. This can't be true since all portraits
show dogs with drop-ear. Madame de Pompadour and Henry III also had Phalene, who had a very strong
devotion to the breed. It is thought that both Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour
helped the Papillon become fashionable and they both admired and
owned this breed.
Madame de Pompadour was the mistress of King Louis XIV, and
owned Inez and Mimi which were her two pet Papillons. Marie
Antoinette had a Sevres porcelain model of a Phalene (Papillon
with drop ears) in her room that was only found after her death.
She was beheaded at the guillotine and her two pet Papillons were
looked after by the inhabitants of the house until they died. Her
house in Paris, France is known today as ‘The House of the
Papillon’.
In France, the City of Lyon in the late 16th century was known for
breeding these miniature dogs.
Until the French revolution, Papillon dogs were the most popular
breed of dog in the courts in France. In Italy, the Bologna region
probably had the largest trade in Papillons, as they sold many of the
dogs to the court of Louis XIV. It was said that they were
transported on the back of mules through Spain.
There are many stories about the Papillon. Marie Antoinette was said
to have walked to the guillotine clutching her small dog under her arm.
Tradition has it that her dog was a small spaniel that had been brought
to the English court from Spain on the back of pack mules. According to
the story, her pup was spared and cared for in a building in London still
called the Papillon House. Marie's small spaniel was said to have descended
from a very old drop-eared breed known as the Epagneul Nain Continental,
or Continental Dwarf/Toy Spaniel that appeared in church frescos and paintings
as early as the 13th century.
The Papillon is still officially referred to as the Epagneul Nain Continental
(ENC) in non-English-speaking countries. The name Squirrel Spaniel also
has been used, most likely referring to an earlier standard in which the
tail set is described as "curling over the back as a squirrel's."
One version of the history of the two varieties of ear shape in the ENC ("Papillon" to denote the erect ear and "Phalène"
to denote the dropped ear) is that toward the end of the 19th century,
breed fanciers bred a version of the spaniel whose ears stood up. This
dog was said to have been nicknamed papillon based on the impressively
large, erect ears that resembled the wings of a butterfly. The drop-eared
variety of the breed came to be called the Phalène (which means
"night moth").
Both types are still bred today and appear in
the same litter. The Papillon variety is much more common, although recently
the Phalène has undergone a resurgence in popularity.
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
