This is an 1879 photo of a curly-coated retriever.
Curlies have changed quite a bit– contrary to what you may have read.
Joby has a longer coat than what we’d expect on a member of this breed now.
The dog is also much stockier and more or less resembles a St. John’s water dog with a curly-coat.
The expression in the eyes and face is closer to what I’d expect from a modern Labrador retriever than the modern curly.
My guess is this dog is also quite a bit smaller than the large, rangier retrievers that make up the modern curly-coat breed.
This dog also has a bit of a roach back, which is a trait that pops up in Chessies and curlies.
It is very clear from this photo that curlies clearly descended from the St. John’s water dog, as did all the other retrievers. It is often suggested that this is a much older breed than the St. John’s water dog, but one must be careful with that theory. Black water spaniels were not unknown and could have easily been mistaken for or misinterpreted as curlies in some of these historical accounts.
I have also read some old breed standards for the curly. All of these standards ask for the dogs to be built more or less like Joby. There were requirements for well-sprung ribs and somewhat heavier bone than the flat-coated retriever.
The modern curly isn’t like this at all. It’s a very rangy retriever– and it is quite a bit larger than a standard Labrador.
Until convince otherwise, I am fairly certain that the St. John’s water dog is the main force behind the modern retrievers.
This photo points clearly to the St. John’s water dog, even if the modern curly isn’t exactly like this animal.
are you sure about the year? that’s just really early for a studio photograph of a dog…
We checked. It is a very early photo.
http://www.maryevans.com/search.php
Search “Joby.”
Photos where not unheard of in the late 1800s, though generally there had to be a good reason to have a picture taken (special event, or being a special person).
In other words, this dog was considered something valuable enough to get a special portrait. It’s from a series of dog show contestant pictures at the archive.
I have pictures of Shah/Mustapha the PersianBaruzkhzyAfghanGreyhound from the same time period. In his case, he belonged to the Shah of Iran, who was touring Europe at the time.
awesome.
photos are such way better documentation for dog appearance than paintings/drawings
The photo of Nous, the founding sire of the yellow retrievers at Guisachan, was photographed in the 1870’s, a few years before this dog.
This dog’s coat is probably not really longer than modern curlies'; but it has not had the “straggles” tidied up as is done today. Obvious trimming was very much frowned upon back then (except for poodles). The way the dog is standing, he may be a bit high in the rear (like a Chesapeake) but not really “roach backed”.
And without something to compare the dog to, it’s not possible to accurately estimate the dog’s height. As most breeds, Curlies varied quite a bit in size in those early days of dog showing. This dog does appear to have a good tight curl.
I was alluding more the size in the Binks painting: http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/curly-coated-retriever-with-a-pheasant/
That pheasant would have had to have been huge if that dog were the same size a typical modern curly.