For lovers of the French Bulldog, the chief point of interest of this wonderful mural by Rex Whistler is to be found in the right hand corner as seen from the front . This mural, one of the largest and most interesting of Whisler's, is an oil painting on a canvas of 58 feet in length, and forms the centre attention of the dining room of the Paget family's home. The house in Plass Newydd on the Welsh island of Anglesey was the home of the Marquess of Anglesey from 1450. In 1936 the sixth Marquess comissioned the mural from Whistler, a family friend. When Whistler looked out of the window of the Plas Newydd dining room, across the Straits and further to the majestic landscapes of Snowdonia, he formed the idea of the mural as a "transforming mirror". It is filled with details of the lives of the family ; the family standard waves over the harbour front , a representation of the sixth Marquess on horseback, boats and gondolas bearing family members, and in the lower right hand corner we find references to Lady Anglesey; her cigarettes, her book and a Pug. Next to these are two Frenchies belonging to her daughters, one of them Lady MacLaren, who would later be the Vice-President of the FBCE. Her first encounter with the breed was at a visit to Cruft's where mother and daughters went in search of a dog. The Frenchy's charisma won the day. And so Cheeky became a part of the household to the delight of everyone, especially Lady Rose. When she decided to have her own dog the Frenchy was the ideal choice. Cheeky had shown that "no other breed is so attractive, so much fun, so intelligent and so clever". So Zinnia joined Cheeky, and both were immortalized by Rex Whistler
Mural reproduction and text from the personal archives of Pilar Hannan
