David Klocker Ehrenstrahl

Essay:

The Talbot breed, now extinct, was a white hunting dog with a spotted snout. It is thought to be a forefather of the beagle.

The depicted dogs apparently would have belonged to a gentleman whose initials were E.V.P. as can be divined on the collar of one of the hounds. A comparative example is another Ehrenstrahl painting of Turck, a favourite hunting hound of King Carl XI. Its collar bears the initials C. R. for Carolus Rex.

Provenance:

Private Collection, UK