Herbert Sidney

(British, 1858–1923)

Mrs. Cleveland Greenway's "Rosette Blanche" (Zita)

, 1904

oil on canvas

signed Herbert Sidney, dated, and titled (lower left); pedigree of the dog inscribed (verso)

30 x 20 inches.

Property from the Collection of Frances G. Scaife

By the end of the nineteenth century, the structures of the pure-bred portrait type had loosened, and more casual portraits of dogs with strong pedigrees had become highly desirable. Herbert Sidney’s likeness of Mrs. Greenway’s toy poodle Rosette Blanche, for example, captures the elegance of the dog’s form, but places her in an informal pose, standing atop a cushion and lady’s glove. Despite the hand missing from the glove, the hand of strong breeding is far from absent.

On the reverse of the canvas are inscribed not only the dog’s formal and informal names, but also her pedigree. Rosette Blanche’s parents were both prize-winning poodles, as noted in the pedigree. Her father, Le Roi Blanc, the poodle of Miss Florence Brunker, a prominent figure in poodle shows and breeding, in particular had a strong background and anticipated future. Rosette Blanche continued to be doted upon by Mrs. Greenway, as evidenced by her presentation several years later in 1908 at the costume party of the Poodle Club where she was dressed as a baby in a bassinet surrounded by flowers.