This 1805 depiction appears in the Cynographia Britannica.
Black and tan setters are not necessarily Gordon setters, and red setters are not necessarily Irish. However, the red and white dog does fit with our understanding of the history of Irish setter in which red and whites were the original dog. But unlike the various Irish setter breeds, this dog is either a brown-skinned red or a rusty liver. I’m not willing to come down on either side because it’s hard to tell.
The white dog is most interesting.
It lacks the ticking or Belton markings one typically sees on modern English setters. It appears to almost solid white except for what appear to be some light lemon markings.
It is also a brown-skinned red and is quite similar to the red dog. Perhaps they are littermates.
The British setters at the time of this publication were not yet clearly segregated into the breeds we know today. Many estates and families had their own strains of setters, more or less distinct from others. It’s only by chance, perhaps, that we do not today have breeds of solid black, cream, or liver (to name only some color distinctions) setters, as were known in the 19th century.
The appellation of “English Setter” at first was a very general term, and included a fair number of different strains of varied appearance. Likewise the “Irish Setter”..among which were a few black or sable dogs as well as both red, and red-and-white, strains.
Also, I think you’re reading too much into the rather stark limitations of early 1800s colour prints, not to mention the obviously-limited skill of the artist. About all you can validly conclude from the picture is “generic setter type in random colours”.
If I remember correctly, the Cynographica Brittanica was printed in black-and-white only. Text was typeset by hand, and illustrations were either steel engravings or woodblock. The sheets that were to be color plates were hand-colored, one page at a time, with watercolor, by hired artists (who may have had little real artistic ability).
The “pop eyes” and some other features of the dogs were likely merely “style” of the day, and not truly representative of actual dogs.
Since the illustrations were hand-colored with watercolors, some two centuries ago, it’s also likely that the colors have faded/changed with time. Reds and yellows, particularly, tended to be “fugitive” colors, and any exposure to light only hastened their deterioration. Not to mention the action of acids in the paper, although such an expensive publication likely used good quality (rag) paper.
Sometimes those years of art school and art history do come in handy…
At any rate, Edwards’ work is a fascinating reference, and the illustrations above-average for the time.
Setters are growing on me. Such beautiful dogs.
A great reference on the history of British setters is “A Survey of Early Setters” by Gilbert Leighton-Boyce. Published privately in the UK, it may be hard to find. But but well worth the effort, as it has reproductions of many early illustrations, as well as lengthy references from early works re the setting dog.