ANIMALS
0070 John Hart Dunne wrote of acquiring a small dog during the pillaging of the Yuanmingyuan in his campaign memoir From Calcutta to Pekin:
‘Sir Hope Grant, in a very good general order, put it entirely to the honour of the officers that they should give up everything; so, of course, there was nothing for it but to produce all. An exception was made as regarded those things purchased in the French camp. I have been able to retain a good many trifles that I bought there; also a pretty little dog, smaller than any King Charles, a real Chinese sleeve dog. It has silver bells round its neck, and people say it is the most perfect little beauty they ever saw.” (Dunne, J.H., 1861, From Calcutta to Pekin: Being Notes Taken from the Journal of an Officer Between Those Places, London: Sampson, Low, Son, and Co., pp. 133–4. Available online at www.archive.org.)
Looty made a sensation in the British press after Hart’s return:
‘At the plunder of the Imperial Summer Palace, near Pekin, on the 8th of last October, a little dog was found by Captain Dunne, 99th Regiment, who brought it home. It is supposed to have belonged to the Empress, or one of the ladies of the Imperial family, and is considered one of the smallest and by far the most beautiful animal that has ever appeared in England. It now forms one of the royal collection of dogs.’ (23 May 1861, Inverness Courier, p. 3.)
An engraving of the dog later appeared in British newspapers:
‘HER MAJESTY’S PET DOG “LOOTY”—On July 12 will be given in “THE QUEEN, the Lady’s Weekly Journal,” by express permission of Her Majesty, a superb facsimile Portrait (Life-size) on the Queen’s Pet Dog “Looty.” “Looty” was rescued by a British officer at the burning Summer Palace of the Chinese Emperor, Pekin, and presented to her Majesty. “Looty” is a great favourite of the Queen’s, and is the smallest Pet Dog in the Kingdom.’ (1 July 1862, Cheltenham Chronicle, p. 4.)
A story on Queen Victoria and her pets titled ‘THE QUEEN’S LOVE OF ANIMALS’ appeared in 1896, which stated:
‘Looty, a lovely silken, long-haired dog brought by a British officer from China, was a later favourite. When the Summer Palace at Pekin was burning, this little dog was discovered curled up among soft shawls and rugs in one of the wardrobes, and the officer who rescued him and brought him to England as a present to the Queen gave him the significant name of Looty. A picture of him by Mr. F. W. Reyl was exhibited in the Royal Academy many years ago.’ (29 September 1896, Dublin Daily Express, p. 6.) Uploaded 26 February 2016.
A photograph of Looty, dated 1865, is in the Royal Collections (RCIN 2105644), and can be found at www.royalcollection.org.uk.
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0066 At a meeting of the Zoological Society of London on 11 June 1861, the Secretary ‘made some remarks on the specimens of a Deer killed in the Emperor’s summer-palace at Pekin, and transmitted to the Society by Mr. Swinhoe.’ (22 June 1861, ‘Scientific Memoranda, &c., Reading Mercury, p. 2.)
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0067 At a meeting of the Zoological Society of London on 26 November 1861, ‘Mr. Leadbeater exhibited three heads of a species of true Deer, from specimens obtained in the Imperial Gardens of the Summer Palace at Pekin, by Lieut.-Col. Sarel.’ (7 December 1861, ‘Scientific Memoranda, etc.’, Reading Mercury, p. 2.)
The deer was later discussed by P.L. Slater in the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London:
‘2. CERVUS XANTHOPYGUS, Alph. Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sc. Nat. 5 ser. Zool. viii. p. 376; Recherches. Hist. Nat. Mamm. tab. xxi.
Cervus from Pekin, allied to C. elaphus, Leadbeater, P.Z.S. 1861, p. 308.
The existence of a large Deer of the Elaphine group in the vicinity of Pekin became known in 1860 when, on the entry of the allies into the Summer Palace, herds of two species of Deer were found grazing in the parks. Heads of the larger animal, obtained by Lieut.-Col. Sarel, F.Z.S., were exhibited by Mr. Leadbeater before a meeting of this Society in November 1861; but the species was not considered to be certainly distinct from C. elaphas.’
(P.L. Slater, ‘On certain species of deer now or lately living in the society’s menagerie’, Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, Vol. 7, London: Messrs. Longmans, Green, Rader, and Dyer, Paternoster-Bow. 1872, pp. 333-52, p. 342.)
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0068 A review of the Bristol and Clifton Pigeon and Poultry Show in 1867 reported:
‘There are some white Sultans and some Pekins, the latter being bred from a pair of hens taken from the summer palace of the Emperor of China at the time it was sacked.’ (7 November 1867, ‘Bristol and Clifton Pigeon and Poultry Show’, Western Daily Press, p. 3.)
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0069 In 1863 at the International Agricultural Exhibition in Hamburg appeared:
‘A pretty chintz and white dog, the property of Mr. C. Broderson, of Altona, and reported in the catalogue to have been taken from the summer palace of the Emperor of China, was perhaps the one that attracted the most spectators around his cage. (20 July 1863, ‘The International Agricultural Exhibition in Hamburg’, London Daily News, p. 3.)
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0071 The following item was included in the catalogue of Capitaine Negroni’s collection of spoils from the Yuanmingyuan, exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1865:
p. 47
484. A box filled with the swallows’ nests used in Chinese cookery.
(See Catalogue of Captain de Negroni's Collection of Porcelain, Jade, Jewels, Silks, Furs, Stones, &c., from Yuen-Min-Yuen, (The Summer Palace) Pekin, London: McCorquodale & Co. 1865, p. 47.)
The collection was sold through Messrs. Foster in June 1866. (16 June 1866, Birmingham Gazette, p. 4.)
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0065 At the Allerton Agricultural Exhibition, ‘ ... miniature Pekin-bantams of the real Cochin China breed, and sprung from those brought to this country from the Chinese Emperor’s Summer Palace at Pekin, after it was sacked by the European barbarians, who thus taught him civilisation, were unique of their kind and attracted much attention, both from the perfection of their form and the richness of their plumage.’ (‘Allerton Agricultural Exhibition’, 17 August 1867, Leeds Times, p. 2.)
All material on this page, unless otherwise credited, was produced by Kate Hill, who asserts her authorship of the work. © Kate Hill, Yuanmingyuan Artefact Index, 2016.
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0146 When the 1870 National Dog Show took place at the Crystal Palace one newspaper noted: ‘a small foreign dog bred by the Emperor of China. He was one of four mandarin pugs taken by our army as “loot” out of the Summer Palace; and the dismal-looking fellow looks it.’ (25 June 1870, Bell’s Weekly Messenger, p. 5.)
Uploaded 26 February 2016.
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0231 The story of a fabulous bird from the Yuanmingyuan appeared in 1892:
‘COCKATOO 180 YEARS OLD.
SIR,—Thirty years ago I had presented to me by the widow and family of the late General Liddel a cockatoo which the General got from the Summer Palace at Pekin. The bird belonged to the then Queen of China. At that time it was known to be 150 years old, which makes him now 180. He is in splendid health, and is very fond of us all. He speaks English and Chinese—his expressions in the latter language are by no means choice. Anyone visiting Bridge of Allan will be welcome to see him at Fernfield.—I am, &c., Alex. Paterson, M.D. (12 October 1892, Glasgow Herald, p. 4.)
Uploaded 26 February 2016.