FOLKLORE AND HISTORY OF THE PAPILLON
by Jan Paulk Chairman of Judges Education, Papillon Club of America, AKC Judge
A Papillon is the breed that Queen Marie Antoinette of France car- ried with her to the guillotine, handing it to her executioner just before he struck. After she was be- headed, the inhabitants of her house took care of her Papillons until they died. That house in Paris is known as “The House of the Papillon” and pri- vate tours can be arranged. Included in the original artifacts is a model of a Phalene in Sevres porcelain said to have been found in her bedroom. Madame de Pompadour, mistress of the French King Louis XIV, had two Papillons called Mimi and Inez. An engraving by Baron Albert Houtart entitled The Faithful shows Madame de Pompadour with a Papillon on her lap. A third French notable, King Henri III of France once upset members of his Council of State by appear- ing with several Papillons in small open baskets worn around his neck. One of his dogs, Lillian, was with the King when he met with the monk, Jacques Clement, in 1589.
selected France and Belgium as the countries of origin, many American breeders cite Italy and the Italian Toy Spaniel as the ancestor of the modern breed. In truth, no one knows. Artworks with dogs similar to the Pa- pillon date to the early Renaissance in Italy. Titian, Giotto Piero De Cosimo, as well as lesser-known artists, in- cluded toy spaniels in portraits of roy- alty. French artists such as Watteau, Lagrilliere, Fragonard, and Boucher painted these dogs during the period 1650-1800. Finer and daintier than the King Charles or Cavalier, there dogs often most closely resemble to- day’s drop-ear variety of the Papillon, the Phalene. The name of this breed is Papillon, French for butterfly, and Phalene, French for moth. The drop-ear variety, the Phalene, was the original variety of the breed. Rumor has it that the Phalene was cross-bred with the Pomeranian and thus the erect ear...which inter- estingly, became dominant. In the United States, they are shown as one
Liline took a violent dislike to the monk and the King confined the Pa- pillon to an adjacent room. The monk then stabbed the King and as he lay dying, Henri lamented, “If only I had heeded Liline’s warning.” One might assume from the impor- tance of the Papillon in the French Court, that France was the origin of the Papillon. While the Federation Cynologique International (FCI) has
“THE NAME OF THIS BREED IS PAPILLON, French for butterfly, and Phalene, French for moth.”
T op N otch T oys , M ay 2019 • 59
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