18TH CENTURY

A feat of modeling and complex to fire in the kiln, the present Asiatic wild dog, or Chinese dhole, appears to be a unique, large-scale model. It is known to have been in three renowned collections in the 20th century. The first, Jakob Goldschmidt (1882-1955), was one of the most significant art collectors of his time in Germany. His vaunted, curated collection spanned from major French Impressionist and post-Impressionist art, through Old Master paintings, medieval and Renaissance art, decorative arts and Chinese porcelain. By the mid-20th century, the dog had found itself in the American collection of Winston Frederick Churchill Guest (1906 -1982) and his glamorous second wife, C.Z. guest, one of Truman Capote’s famed ‘swans’. Finally, by the late 20th century, the dog was in the acclaimed collection of John T. Dorrance, Jr., heir to the Campbell's soup fortune, whose 1989 sale at Sotheby's made $123.4 million, setting a world auction record for a single owner collection.