Starting from February 9, 2018 museum “Riga Art Nouveau Centre” will house a thematic exhibition “Dog in Art from Art Nouveau until today”. It is devoted to the year of the Yellow Earth Dog that, according to the Chinese calendar, starts in February. The exhibition shows the man’s best friend – the dog in porcelain, metal, wood and embroidery. The exhibition was created in cooperation with Riga Porcelain Museum, Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation and private collections.
Museum “Riga Art Nouveau Centre” possesses a large collection of textiles created around the dog named Bonzo as the main motif. In 1922 this image was created in London by English cartoon artist George Ernest Studdy. Bonzo quickly gained popularity: postcards, figures and other objects with Bonzo’s motif were manufactured not only in England and other places of Europe, but also in America. The figures of Bonzo were manufactured even at J.C.Jessen’s porcelain factory in Riga. In the textile collection of the museum the dog Bonzo is shown in various situations both on kitchen towels as well as bags intended for storing matches, corks and other household objects.
A particularly interesting part of the exhibition “Dog in art from Art Nouveau until today” is the porcelain figures of various breeds of dogs. The smallest of them are approximately 3 cm high made of brown glass with shining glass eyes manufactured at Ilguciems glass factory. In 1930s these figures together with sweets were given as gifts to employee children on Christmas. The biggest ones are white Staffordshire dogs, the popularity of which has not decreased since the 19th century, when they were traditionally placed in pairs on the fireplace edge. Staffordshire dogs initially gained their visual image from the spaniels, which were particularly popular among the English royal family at that time. Later the dog figures could also show stylized pugs, poodles, greyhounds, collies and even dalmatians. It is important that the dogs have a golden collar and a medallion. The exhibition “Dog in Art from Art Nouveau until today” also features dog-related objects, such as dog registration badges in Riga. The oldest badge presented in the exhibition is from year 1894 and represents a 3.5 cm2metal pendantwith a dog figure.
Various dog figures were also produced at M.S,Kuznetsov’s factory in Riga, where one of the most common breeds was the dachshund. The exhibition “Dog in Art from Art Nouveau until today” is supplemented by the collection of Andris Alksnis from Cesis with more than 80 different dachshunds. The collection was created more than 10 years ago with the first object – a metal fork and knife shaped as a dachshund from Sweden. The exhibit that has travelled the furthest comes from Japan, many other exhibits are of local origin - from Riga. Among the exhibits, there are also wonderful wooden pull-along toys – dachshunds on four wheels.
The exhibition in the museum “Riga Art Nouveau Centre” will be open until 18 March, 2018.
For more information please contact:
Agnese Tambaka
Museum “Riga Art Nouveau Centre”
Tel. 67181814
E-mail: agnese.tambaka@riga.lv
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Museum “Riga Art Nouveau Centre” Alberta iela 12 (entrance from Strelnieku iela)
Museum is open from 10.00 to 18.00 every day except Monday.