Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.701
Gallery Label:
Wootton was the leading sporting artist of the first half of the eighteenth century. Here a noble hound stands guard over the dead bird he has retrieved for an unseen master. The dog is probably an early pointer, a breed introduced in England in the mid-seventeenth century. It grew in popularity in the early 1700s when shooting birds in flight became more common. Pointers then as now were skilled in finding, flushing, and retrieving birds. Gallery label for Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11)
