Afghan Hound Database and Breed Information Exchange (B A Hyland Afghan Hound Painting) |
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We don't know too much about the artist - B A Hyland. What we know is the B stands for Benedict and that the artist is female and lived from 1840 through the late 1800's. Hyland was renowned for her canine paintings and became well known and respected in her field. The above is a reproduction of an original oil on canvas.
What is of particular interest to me is the date of this illustration - 1888. Noting that the Afghan Hound didn't appear in the west until the early 1900's, it is both surprising and interesting that the artist had some knowledge or sight of the breed in the 1880's.
Hutchinsons Enclycopedia Of The Dog (1935) includes a photo (below) of an Afghan Hound from the 1880's. This Afghan Hound is named Rajah II and was owned by Mr F Carter in England. I''m still pondering how B A Hyland would have had sight of, or knowledge of The Afghan Hound 30-40 years before the founding imports (Ghazni and Bell Murray) arrived in the west (England). Perhaps Hutchinsons gives us a clue. It seems to me there is quite a similarity between the Hyland painting and this photo from Hutchinsons. Maybe Hyland painted her Afghan Hounds after having seen an early photograph? Just a guess/theory
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