Felix Eimermann
Active 17th Century
A Portrait of a Smooth-haired Dachshund
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Category:
Dimensions:
69(h) x 88.5(w) cms
Signed:
Signed "FELIX Eimermann", Dated "Ao: 1668" and extensively inscribed
Essay:
Individual portraits of dogs of this date are very rare and this example is all the more poignant for being an epitaph, presumably a commission from a patron (Herr Bosen) who had been particularly fond of his late favourite hound. The inscription reads:
Durch hohe Fürsten Gnad war Ich Herr Bosen Geben,
zu seinen treuen dinst, so lang Ich würde leben,
die Haasen jagte Ich, Ich suchte Tachsen Farth,
deswegen Ich auch selbst ein Tachs genennet ward.
With the grace of grand princes, I was given to Master Bosen
to serve him faithfully all my life.
I used to chase hares and I followed the scent of badgers.
Because of this I was called a badger myself."
[The English term dachshund is a combination of the German words of Dachs (badger) and Hund (dog).]
Taking the inscription and date into account one could assume the dog's owner to have been Christoph Dietrich von Bose (1628-1708), Herr auf Unterfrankleben. Von Bose acted first as valet, then as Privy Councillor to Kurfürst Johan Georg II zu Sachsen Saxon(1613-1680), who may well have presented him with the puppy.
Eimermann writes that he painted the portrait in Plauen, the 5th largest town of Saxony. We know that Christoph Dietrich von Bose financed the build of the Marienkirch in Mölbis.
Provenance:
Private Collection, France