George Armfield
(British, 1808-1893)
Dignity and Impudence, 1854
oil on canvas
signed G. Armfield and dated (lower right)
24 1/4 x 24 inches.
Property from the Collection of Frances G. Scaife
Provenance:
Connoisseur Gallery, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (label verso)

George Armfield's Dignity and Impudence is the purest example of nineteenth-century sentimentality in the Scaife collection. It quotes the eponymous painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, which is arguably the most famous dog painting of the nineteenth century. In Dignity and Impudence, Armfield draws attention to the dogs' human characteristics, with the reserved attitude of the King Charles spaniel contrasting with the snarl of the bull terrier. Thus, the two dissimilar dogs and their diverging personalities conjure a moral allegory.

Framed: 33 x 32 3/4 inches.Moderate deposits of surface dirt and dust; canvas is lined; network of stable craquelures throughout surface; pinpoint paint losses scattered through upper background and one pinpoint paint loss in lower center; one minor abrasion in lower center, above the pillow, and one additional minor abrasion in the spaniel's ear; two spots of inpainting visible under normal viewing conditions in upper background. Under UV light, small areas of inpainting scattered throughout background and along the upper edge; two small spots of inpainting in terrier's face; inpainting throughout the edge's of the spaniel's ears; the majority of the space between the two dog's faces is inpainted; areas of inpainting along the lower edge. Additional images available upon request.