Search Results: Pets

Pets in Colonial America were kept by the colonists for the same reasons they were in Europe: for companionship and, in the case of dogs, for protection, hunting, and herding. Cats controlled vermin in homes and barns until the 18th century...

In medieval and Renaissance Europe, dogs were considered little more than 'machines' which performed certain tasks, such as guarding a home or tracking game, but this view changed significantly during the Age of Enlightenment (also known...

Dogs were an integral aspect of the lives of the people of Mesoamerica regardless of their location or culture and, throughout the region, were recognized as liminal beings belonging not only to the natural world and that of humans but to...

Pets were very important to the ancient Egyptians and considered gifts from the gods to be cared for until their death when they were expected to be returned to the divine realm from which they had come. In life, pets were well cared for...

A Boy with a Flying Squirrel, 1765, by Anglo-American painter John Singleton Copley (l. 1738-1815). The painting depicts Copley's half-brother Henry Pelham (l. 1748-1806), later a well-known engraver and cartographer, with his pet flying...

Self-Portrait by English artist George Stubbs (l. 1724-1806 CE). Stubbs was a self-trained, independent artist who is best known for his depictions of horses. His shift to a focus on dogs in his work elevated their status by depicting them...

Pets were as important to the Norse of the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE) as they were to any other culture, past or present. The Vikings kept dogs and cats as pets and both feature in Norse religious iconography and literature. The Norse also...

An Officer of the 4th Regiment of Foot, 1776-1780 by English portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough (l. c. 1727-1788), presently in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Typical of portraits of the time which frequently featured...

The Painter and His Pug (1745) is a self-portrait by the English artist William Hogarth (l. 1697-1764) featuring the artist and his Pug, Trump. The work exemplifies the art of the time which increasingly included, or focused exclusively on...

"Portrait of an Extraordinary Musical Dog" by English painter Philip Reinagle (1749-1833 CE). Oil on canvas. 1805 CE. 71.76 cm (28 1/4 in) x 92.71 cm (36 1/2 in). Collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.