104 - September, 2015

Portrait of a Sacramento Indian with Dogs (1867)by Charles Nahl

This intriguing oil-on-canvas painting depicts a seated,smartly dressed man – a “Sacramento Indian” – twoDalmatians, a cock and a hen, in a charming landscape witha river and mountain in the background. The liver-spotted dogwatches the man; the black-spotted dog is looking at itskennel mate.

Spots and PatchesFanciers will immediately

notice that, according to boththe AKC and FCI standards, therecumbent dog hasdisqualifying faults. The AKCstandard says, “Patches are adisqualification.” The FCIstandard says, “Monocle(patching around one or botheyes) or patching elsewhere isa disqualifying fault.”

Both breed standards specifythe size of the spots. “Spots areround and well-defined. Themore distinct the better. Theyvary from the size of a dime tothe size of a half dollar.” (AKC)

“The size of the spots should preferably be even, with asize of 2-3 cm in diameter. In the brown variety, the spots area little smaller, around 2 cm. The spots on the head and onthe legs should be proportional[ly] smaller than on the rest of

the body. It is desirable the tail is spotted too, with spots alsoproportional[ly] smaller than those on the body.” (FCI)

An Intriguing Painting

The man turns his head as if to look at a photographer,which makes him appear somewhat stiff. Notice the dogs’

nice collars on which theirowner’s name – Latham – isengraved.

What is the story behind thiscolorful painting from 1867,depicting a “SacramentoIndian” in a landscape withtwo dogs, a cock and a hen?

Grandeur

William Eustace Barronbuilt Thurlow Estate in MenloPark (California) in 1864. In1871-72, it came into thepossession of Milton SlocumLatham (1827-82), whorenovated the building,rebuilding the mansion into amagnificent estate that herenamed Thurlow Lodge.

Milton Slocum Latham wasan American politician, governor of California, member ofthe U.S. Senate, head of the London and San Francisco BankLtd., and one of the financiers of the California PacificRailroad and the North Pacific Coast Railroad. In 1879, he

HiStoRy

text and illustrations by Ria HöRteR

It was known that the Lathams had dogs at Thurlow Lodge.Were they the canine subjects of the painting?

Dogs in paintings run, play, follow the prey, take care of their puppies and look at us.Such paintings are indispensable for unraveling the history of dogs.

Dogs In ArtSacramento Indian with Dogs

Portrait of a Sacramento Indian with Dogs, 1867by German-American artist Charles Nahl (1818-78)

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became president of the NewYork Mining and StockExchange. To put it briefly, hewas a railroad baron,immensely rich, who associatedhimself with European royaltyand aristocracy. Latham’s firstwife, Sophie Birdsall – knownas “Belle of the Prairie” – diedin 1867, the same year theSacramento Indian was painted.

Thurlow Lodge was a gift to Latham’s second bride, MaryMcMullin, but the estate burned down before its completion.Nevertheless, it was entirely rebuilt in 1873, the interior designedby the prestigious New York firm HerterBrothers.

The dining room’s carved woodenfireplace surround – now in the de YoungMuseum in San Francisco – was designedby the Herter Brothers and executed inParis by the cabinet-making firm GuéretFrères. The elaborate surround includes apair of life-size, carved, male and femalehunting dogs, one rough-coated, onesmooth.

Latham’s fortune gradually evaporatedin the depression of 1875. In 1879, hemoved to New York and became thedirector of the New York Mining andStock Exchange. When he died in 1882,Thurlow Lodge got a new owner,Henrietta Dwight, who renamed itSherwood Hall. In 1906, the mansion was heavily damaged inthe San Francisco earthquake.

Native American

It was known that the Lathams had dogs at Thurlow Lodge.Were they the canine subjects of the painting?

The “Sacramento Indian” could have been a Latham employeewho looked after the dogs and poultry. This is purely speculation;there is no evidence.

California was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1849,although slavery of indigenous peoples persisted until the

Thirteenth Amendment to theConstitution abolished slaveryin all states from December1865, and the Federal Anti-Peonage Act of 1867 outlawedvoluntary or involuntaryservitude. Is it a coincidencethat the Lathams portrayed the“Sacramento Indian” in the yearof the Anti-Peonage Act?

During the California goldrush, the Nisenan and Plains Miwok tribes lived in the CentralValley, between the Sacramento River and the Sierra Mountains.Do the river and mountains in the background of the painting

refer to the origin of the NativeAmerican depicted?

The Artist

Carl Christian Heinrich Nahl (1818-78) – a.k.a. Charles Nahl or Karl Nahl –was born in the German city ofHeidelberg to a family of artists. He waseducated at the Kunsthochschule (artschool) in the German city of Kassel,and at the age of 12 was already acreditable painter.

Dissatisfied with the politicalsituation in the federal state of Hessen, hewent to Paris in 1846 where he workedwith HippolyteDelaroche and

Emile Vernet and exhibited hispaintings in the famous Salon de Paris.

During the February Revolution,one of a wave of revolutions in Europein 1848, Nahl and his mother (hisparents divorced in 1826), his half-brother and other family members,emigrated to Brooklyn, N.Y. It was thetime of the California Gold Rush(1848-55). In 1849 he moved toNevada City, California, in the SierraNevada mountains, then settled nearDeer Creek in Nevada County,California, in the mining town ofRough and Ready. Having no luckmining, Nahl moved to Sacramento,where he worked as artist,photographer and engraver for a localnewspaper. The grizzly bear on theCalifornia flag is his best-knowncommission. In the U.S., Nahl isregarded as California’s firstimportant artist.

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Do any Canine Chronicle readers recognize the breed ofthe cock and hen? Owners of pedigree dogs at the end of the19th century often owned and exhibited poultry breeds aswell. Maybe the cock is a fighting cock? The CanadianKennel Club publication Kennel Gazette, which eventuallybecame Dogs in Canada, originated as a February 1889supplement to Canadian Poultry Review. (eco.canadiana.ca)

Other Works

Other works by Charles Nahl are in the collections of theSmithsonian American Art Museum in Washington; theOakland Museum of California; The Museum of Fine Arts,Boston; the Crocker Art Museum of Sacramento; and theHuntingdon Art Gallery in San Marino.

Detail of the liver-spottedDalmatian, cock and hen

The carved woodenfireplace surround in the

dining room includestwo hunting dogs.

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Searching For Gold

Together with Arthur, hishalf-brother and travelingcompanion, and brother-in-law Friedrich Wenderoth,Nahl opened a studio inSacramento, the capital ofCalifornia. Their businesscard reads: “Nahl Brothers,art and photographicgallery.” In 1852, afternearly 85 percent of thetown burned down, Nahlmoved to San Francisco.His paintings Miners in theSierras (1850/51), SundayMorning in the Mines(1872) and The Dead Miner(1867) are reminders of histime searching for gold, andof the region where theGerman family settled. TheDead Miner is a sentimentalimage of a miner who hasdied in the snow, mournedonly by his loyal dog.

As well as miners, cowboys and pioneers, Nahl paintedportraits with animals – dogs, cougars and horses. Portrait of aSacramento Indian with Dogs is an example.

Nahl died of typhoid fever in 1878 and was buried in LaurelHill Cemetery in San Francisco; his body was later moved toCypress Lawn Memorial Park.

Firehouse Dog

In England, the Dalmatian was known as the companion of

horse-drawn coaches. In old books, the breed is also called “coachdog” as it has a natural affinity with horses. In 19th-centuryAmerica, Dalmatians accompanied horse-drawn fire engines,hence the name “firehouse dog.”

Various sources suggest that the breed originated in the easternMediterranean, then spread to India and across Europe. The FCIuses the Croatian name for the breed: Dalmakinski Pas. It istempting to conclude that the breed was named after the coast ofDalmatia, a historical region of Croatia on the Adriatic Sea, buthistorians have found this not to be the case. The name“Dalmatian” was mentioned in the late 1790s, but there are earlierrecords of spotted dogs in paintings and artifacts.

The Origin is Obscure

Thomas Bewick’s book A General History of Quadrupeds,published in 1790, refers to the breed as “Dalmatian or CoachDog.” In his book British Dogs, published in 1879, Hugh Dalzielmore or less agreed with his contemporaries: “The origin of theDalmatian is quite as obscure as that of any other breed.”

The 1881 first edition of Vero Kemball Shaw’s (Cassell’s) TheIllustrated Book of the Dog contains a beautiful color plate ofShaw’s Bull Terrier Ch. Tarquin, with a black-spotted Dalmatian

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Endorsement

In 1916, Mrs. Mary Latham-McMullin donated Portraitof a Sacramento Indian with Dogs to the M.H. de YoungMemorial Museum in San Francisco. The museumadvises that, “The man pictured is Native American,presumably from the Sacramento Delta region.” If youhappen to be in San Francisco, the painting is on view inGallery 20 of the de Young Museum.

Charles Nahl and Friedrich August Wenderoth in 1841.Both worked in the gold mines.

Carl Christian Heinrich Nahl(1818-78) aka Charles Nahl

of Karl Nahl, was born into afamily of artists in the German city of Kassel. (photographer unknown)

The M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. Portrait of a Sacramento Indian with Dogs is in Gallery 20.

This Museum owns American art from the 17th to 21st centuries.

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named Captain. Shaw wrote: “Captain is the dog we have selectedfor illustration, as he is indisputably the best specimen now forthe public.” It is striking how well Captain resembles the breedof today, 134 years later.

The Dalmatian was first shown in England in 1862. In 1882,an unofficial breed standard was introduced by dog fancier anddog writer Vero Shaw. In 1890, the standard became official withthe founding of the first Dalmatian Club in England. The Englishbreed standard is available at thekennelclub.org

Dalmatians in America

The Dalmatian was recognized by the American KennelClub in 1888. However, the 1867 painting of the SacramentoIndian proves that the breed had existed in the U.S. decadesbefore recognition.

The Dalmatian Club of America was founded in 1905; it nowrepresents nearly 1,000 breeders. The first national specialty showwas held in June 1926.

Breed clubs have been established all over the world. From NewZealand to Finland to South Africa, the Dalmatian is a popularbreed, its popularity having increased dramatically with thepublication in 1956 of The 101 Dalmatians, a children’s novel byDodie Smith. In 1961, Disney adapted the novel into the animatedfilm One Hundred and One Dalmatians, then made a live-actionversion in 1996. This had the unfortunate so-called “Lassie effect”:Every child wanted a “spotted dog.” Today, the Dalmatian is valuedas a smart companion dog and performance dog.

We have tried to find the names of all photographers.Unfortunately, we do not always succeed. Please send a messageto the author if you think you are the owner of a copyright.

Ria Hörter is a dogwriter and dogfancier from TheNetherlands. She isthe contributingeditor of variousDutch dogmagazines andworks for the DutchKennel Club, thebreed club of theWelsh SpringerSpaniel, and thenational Dutch dogmagazine OnzeHond. She wasnominated twice inthe annual DogWriters Associationof America writingcompetition for herarticles in Dogs inCanada.

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Nahl painted The Dead Miner the same year he painted the“Sacramento Indian” portrait. Was he inspired by Sir Edwin

Landseer’s Alpine Mastiffs (1820)? The resemblance is striking.

In the States, the Dalmatian’s use as a carriage dog was transferred to accompanying horse-drawn fire engines. Dalmatians were also historically used by brewers to guard the wagon

while the driver was making deliveries. This photo of an antique steam fire engine was taken in Lake Forest, California, at a Fourth of July Parade. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

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