Jacques Barthélémy Delamarre

Anonymous sale, London, Bonham's, 16 February 1986, lot 725 (as De Lamarre).

Although very little is known of the French artist Jacques Barthelemy Delamarre,¹ he seemed to have a particular specialty for capturing the likeness of this small dog, said to be “Pompon,” a beloved pet of Marie Antoinette’s. Delamarre painted several versions of this canine portrait, each of which varied slightly in composition, for example in the dog’s size and state of grooming as well as in the accompanying objects.

The breed of dog captured here has been described in the past as a poodle, although alternate proposals to a Cavalier King Charles and a löwchen have also been made.

1. Very few biographical details are known, apart from him being admitted to the Paris Académie Saint-Luc in 1777.