 This story starts with “beachcombing” the web. For lovers of art and literature there is nothing better. If you are also a collector there is no subsititute. There is little that can match the thrill of websurfing a “deserted beach” and coming across a work of art or a book, even better if it’s old.
Dusting off books, old prints, catalogues, magazines large and small, pictures and paintings can become an absorbing pastime. Sometimes you manage to put together pieces of an old jigsaw that you have been puzzling over for a long time, and the joy is especially intense,
In the case of the the drawing of Quest of Quatt the moment came on a small “beach” dedicated to works of art connected with the world of dogs. This beach was located on the shores of a vast and deep ocean called the Internet Sea.
Quest of Quatt was sighted for the first time on November 11th of 2008, brightening a cold winter’s evening. It was spotted in a virtual gallery along with other dogs and horses patiently awaiting someone to come along and bring them back to life.
It is a little Babancon whose expresión demands your attention time and again. Such an intense expresión was immortalized by KC Brown in 1955 in majestic fashion. KC Brown was born in Manchester around 1930. Her real name was Katherine Morris. She was a breeder of hunting dogs and Staffies. She painted dogs and horses (in 1948 she painted Nearco, one of Lord Derby’s famous horses). Amongst the dogs were some Brabancons of the Quatt affix.
Quatt was an important affix in the development of the French Bulldog in the UK. The affix began with the breeding of Frenchies in 1946, the owner being Joan Cottrel who, in 1958, founded the Midland and Northern Counties French Bulldog Club, which is still going strong over 50 years later. Her daughter Ann Cottrel took over the reins of the affix after her mother’s death in 1979. Life was not easy for Ann after her mother’s death, it was hard work not only keeping a number of Frenchies and continuing the successes of her mother in the breed, but also with Griffons.
Some ten years ago, in my researches into the origins of the French Bulldog, I was looking through a small handbook published by The French Bulldog Club of England in 1966/67 when I came across a photo of a Brabançon and a pied Frenchy. The Frenchy was Ch. Snowboy of Quatt, but I was unable to find the name of the Brabancon by his side, until now. Thanks to the painting of Quest of Quatt the name of that elusive Brabancon has come to light after so many years.
I sent out an SOS, a messaage in a bottle on the Internet Sea, in an attempt to rescue the identity of that little dog. As luck would have it, Carol Ritchie set her knowledge to work on the search. In her archives she found an advert in the 1966 Christmas edition of the GBC, in which the same dogs appear, the Frenchie and the Brabancon. But this time the Brabancon had a name: Quelle of Quatt.
What was the relation between Quest and Quelle, the little Brabancon with the Frenchie? We still don’t know for sure… But after 10 years the circle has closed. The aquisiiton of the old catalogue together with the new aquisition of the painting have saved both Quelle and Quest from drifting on the sea of oblivion ever again.
It isn’t always easy to satisfy your whims. Sometimes it all comes down to simply a question of money. Quest of Quatt was a very desirable work, and that was reflected in the high price, at a time when money was scarce due to the credit crunch.
For that reason the painting had to wait its turn for almost another year. But the credit crunch effects us all, not only the buyer, sometimes the seller has to make the price more attractive for the buyer’s pocket.
So, Quest of Quatt hove into view again on the 8th of June 2009, but this time carrying much lighter “baggage”. And, although I was on the point of seeing it sail off once more over the horizon during the negotiations with the gallery, it now forms part of those dreams that, from time to time, come true.
By P Hanna 2009
Translated by Chris Hannan |
