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Art Deco Dogs

January 8, 2025
Speed and streamlined forms epitomized the Art Deco movement in the Roaring Twenties and Glamorous Thirties. Even the fashionable canine companions of the era were sleek and fast. Stylish Art Deco ladies were portrayed with greyhounds, salukis and borzois in fashion plates and porcelain statuettes. See the elegant porcelain designs in the new Art Deco gallery at WMODA.

Greyhounds were bred for hunting thousands of years ago. They are the fastest dog breed in the world and can outrun a cheetah, the fastest land mammal, over long distances. Greyhounds can accelerate to more than 35 miles an hour and run at that rate for up to seven miles. In contrast, cheetahs reach 70 miles an hour but can only sustain this speed for around a tenth of a mile.

Cheetahs became exotic pets in the Art Deco era and were paraded around on leashes by celebrities such as Josephine Baker, the dance idol of the Roaring Twenties. European porcelain factories, including Hutschenreuther, incorporated cheetahs and greyhounds into their figurines to symbolize speed and modernity.

Modern greyhound racing, where dogs chase a mechanical hare, first became popular in the 1920s. Mick the Miller, a brindle greyhound, won nineteen races in a row and became the embodiment of the sport, with accolades in the international press. Royal Doulton issued a greyhound model inspired by the sporting legend in 1931, and champion greyhounds featured advertisements for cigarettes and whisky.

Greyhounds have lean, aerodynamic bodies with short, weatherproof coats, and they are similar in build to salukis, which have smooth, silky coats with feathering on their ears, legs and tails. The saluki is one of the oldest domesticated dog breeds and was used for hunting by the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. They are depicted in tombs and their mummified remains were buried with their noble owners as symbols of wealth and status. The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 made Egyptian motifs popular in Art Deco design, including their favorite dogs. Salukis and greyhounds became fashion accessories for sophisticated ladies in illustrations by French Art Deco artists such as Erté, Louis Icart and Georges Barbier.

Fashionable women also embraced the exotic Borzoi, originally known as the Russian Wolfhound. Borzois originated in 17th-century Russia as a cross between Arabian greyhounds and Russian sheepdogs. Tsar Nicholas of Russia presented Princess Alexandra of Britain with a graceful borzoi in the early 1900s and interest in the exotic breed was also fueled by the European success of the Ballet Russes. Several sirens of the stage and silver screen had pet borzois, including Sarah Bernhardt, Theda Bara, Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer and Jean Harlow.

 

Rosenthal, Hutschenreuther and other European porcelain companies portrayed borzois and salukis with beautiful women, often scantily dressed or nude. It was socially acceptable for 1920s artists to depict nude women with all types of exotic animals, including cheetahs, gazelles and polar bears. However, in the late 1920s, the Hays Code of film censorship introduced new moral standards and eliminated suggestive nudity from motion pictures. By the 1930s, floor-length gowns were back in vogue. Mae West, the archetypal Hollywood vamp, was photographed with two borzois in the 1930s. Her long, slinky gown and iconic wide-brimmed hat inspired a fabulous figure modeled by Claire Weiss for Goldscheider of Austria in 1936.

Men are rarely portrayed with their dogs in Art Deco sculptures, but a striking Augarten porcelain figure at WMODA depicts Hubertus, the hunter, with his powerful mastiff hound as a pair to Diana, the huntress with her elegant deer. Large dogs dwarf little children in charming figurines by Rosenthal and Hutschenreuther during the 1920s and 30s.

 

Cute, happy-go-lucky terriers, such as the Scottie dog, were popular with flappers, as shown by Royal Doulton’s iconic figure of Scotties. They were the perfect size for motor car excursions in the countryside and trips to the beach. They originated in Scotland in the 15th century, and Queen Victoria, who loved all things Scottish, had one called Laddie. Black and White Scotch whisky made the breed famous in the late Victorian era with its mascot of a black Scottish Terrier and a white West Highland White Terrier. Scotties were introduced to America in the 1890s, and by the 1930s, they were the third most popular dog in the country, thanks to the fame of President Roosevelt’s Fala, who became a national celebrity. His image decorated all types of jewelry, ornaments and children’s accessories in many materials.

 

The Boston terrier is claimed to be the first American purebred dog, and it was popularized by the cartoon character Betty Boop, who was often accompanied by the googly-eyed Bimbo. Betty was a caricature of a jazz-age flapper who started life as a poodle and morphed into a girl with dangling earrings. In England, George Studdy’s comic strip dog Bonzo evolved from recognizable breeds such as the bull terrier in The Sketch magazine to an international cartoon star with saucer eyes and a wide grin. He appeared in 26 animated films in 1925, and his escapades inspired spin-off merchandise for adults and children. Royal Doulton produced five models of Bonzo in different colorways which are very collectible today.

Check out all the canine collectibles at WMODA as we celebrate the centennial of the Art Deco movement .