Toy spaniels were prized as lapdogs in European courts from the sixteenth century onwards, appearing as companions to their owners in many a portrait. Like larger breeds of spaniel, they were used for hunting and therefore were popular with both sexes until the early nineteenth century. From then on, interbreeding with pugs led to the wide, shortened muzzles and bulging eyes with which we are familiar in English King Charles spaniels today. In Europe, the breeds remained truer to the earlier bloodlines with the popular Papillon (ears pointed up) and the Phalène (ears drooping down): the latter most resembles the spaniel portrayed on this and following vinaigrette (inventory number 3859MC506/ДПИ). The depiction of a pet dog would make the vinaigrette a most acceptable gift for a young lady, and it evidently proved more popular than those of similar form depicting lambs as a symbol of innocence, since more examples survive today.

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