The Dachshound Pehr with Dead Game and Rifle

The Dachshund Pehr with Dead Game and Rifle, dated 1740 and at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, is remarkable for its specificity: the dachshund Pehr is named, identifying this as a portrait of a particular dog rather than a generic breed study. Named animal portraits occupied an interesting position in eighteenth-century French culture — the value placed on individual dogs, particularly hunting dogs, was considerable in aristocratic households, and commissioning portraits of favored animals was not unusual. Oudry painted a number of named dog portraits throughout his career, including his celebrated series of royal dogs. The dachshund — low-slung and designed for burrowing after game — would have been an unusual subject compared to his more typical pointers and spaniels, giving Pehr's portrait a certain novelty within his oeuvre.

Canvas with the combination of animal portrait and game still life that Oudry developed as a distinctive format: the named dog is placed among the game it has helped to take, contextualizing the portrait within the practical hunting identity of the breed. The dachshund's short, smooth coat requires different handling than the shaggy spaniels Oudry more typically painted — less layering, more direct color and tonal work to describe the smooth form.