A Pair of Old Dogs by Anni Morris

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Sounds like a very crafty idea ( the wife/husband bit) :o)) Love the design Anni, the pattern on the curtains- excellent.

I had wanted to paint some Staffordshire pottery dogs for sometime and have finally got round to it. Very popular in the 19th century; the Staffordshire spaniel was the quintessential Victorian bourgeois status-symbol ornament. No mantelpiece or window sill was complete without a pair of spaniels standing guard. Staffordshire dogs are nowadays collectors items Since the 1720s, spaniels had been produced by pottery factories in Staffordshire.There are various tales said to portray the usefulness of placing the Staffordshire spaniel figurines on window sills. One story is that a woman could place the ornaments in her front window; if the spaniels were turned back to back, it meant her husband was at home. If he was away or at sea, the dogs would be placed facing each other. When her lover passed the house, he would then know by the way the dogs were facing, whether it was safe for him to visit her without her husband knowing. www.annimorris.co.nz ~ Anni