Elsie de Wolfe, the tastemaker famous for her unerring good taste, was always ahead of the pack when it came to style.
Known as a Fashion Hound long before she became the Top Dog of Interior Design, she understood the importance of the perfect accessory.
Her Dogs were no exception.
Dogs In Society. Image: Interior Design Hound.
Every Dog has its day, and Vogue magazine devoted plenty of space to report on the “must haves” in the Dog world.
Reporters, like Johnny McMullin, wrote about which breeds were no longer popular and had:
“met with social reverses recently.”
So, I guess when French Bulldogs became sooooo last century, the Pekingese became the Dog de Jour for Elsie de Wolfe in the early 1900s.
The portrait of Elsie de Wolfe and one of her precious Pekingese Pups (below) fetched $2530 at a Christie’s auction in 1999.
Taken by Baron de Meyer, the 7” x 9” framed print was given a date of “circa 1900.”
Elsie de Wolfe & Pekingese. Image: Christie’s
The first Pekingese came to America in 1898 and the breed was admitted to the A.K.C. registry in 1906.
Wee Toi of Downshire, Elsie’s Pekingese, was from the Downshire Kennels founded in 1905 by Mrs. Morris Mandy.
Tsang of Downshire. Image: Art & Life
My research documentation has Elsie de Wolfe touring with her French Bulldog Fauvette until at least 1902. So, either Elsie had both a Pekingese and French Bulldogs at the same time or the photo was taken at a later date.
Both Elsie and her Pekingese on the sofa look remarkably similar to the first photograph from 1913, don’t you think?
Elsie de Wolfe. Image: Libray of Congress
The Inaugural Pekingese Exhibition was held at the Plaza Hotel in January of 1911. According to the New York Times, the Dog Show “attracted scores of society folks.”
Miss Elsie de Wolfe’s Pekingese, Wee Toi of Downshire, made quite a showing. Weighing in at under 8 pounds, the Dog took 1st place in:
- Open Class
- Novice Dogs
- Open Class, Dogs under 8 lbs.
- American-Bred Pekingese, Red
In December of 1911, “members of society interested in the development of the Pekingese, the latest pet of Dogdom, gathered at the Plaza Hotel for the second annual show held by the Pekingese Club of America.”
The “members of society” included J. P. Morgan and, of course, Miss Elsie de Wolfe and her prize winning Pekingese.
By December of 1913, “the largest bench of the ultra-fashionable breed Pekingese Exhibition” was held at the Plaza Hotel with over 250 Dogs.
Image: Hoyningen-Hune, Vogue.
The competitive nature of the exhibition had extended beyond the show ring to the decoration of the Dogs’ pen or kennels:
“Many pens were decorated with grotesque and elaborated embroidery work,” according to the New York Times. No doubt beautiful Chinese embroidery.
A House In Good Taste, indeed.
Wee Toi lived in the style that all of Elsie de Wolfe’s Dogs would become accustomed to:
“I love to house my little people happily-my dogs and my birds and my fish. Wee Toi, my little Chinese Dog, has a little house all his own, an old Chinese lacquer box with a canopy top and little gold bells. It once was the shrine to a little Chinese god, I suppose, but Wee Toi is very happy in it, and you can see it was meant for him in the beginning. It sits by the fireplace and gives the room a real feel of hominess.” A House In Good Taste, 1913
How I’d love to see a photograph of that Chinese lacquered Dog house!”
Here’s the only Dog bed of Elsie de Wolfe’s that I’ve managed to find:
It looks like the Dog basket I wrote about here.
No matter what Elsie de Wolfe’s Dogs slept in…..
Elsie de Wolfe with her Pekingese Dogs in tow painted on the ceiling of her Library at Petit Trianon in Verailles, France. Image: Elsie de Wolfe: A Decorative Life
…you can bet they were living the high life!
Later, I’ve got to let the Dog out,
Taffy, our charming 
