I have heard and read lots of
different variations of the history of Pomeranians. People seem stuck on the illusory idea that
they were created by the royal family by downsizing the Spitz breed. Partially true:
The Pomeranian was downsized from the
Spitz breed, but it didn’t just happen in England and it wasn’t because
of their popularity with the royal family, but more they probably felt
predisposed to join the fad that was the rise of the Pomeranian. Little dogs with huge coats and
curled up tails existed for centuries in many different countries and were
called by many different names.
In Italy existed the Volpino
Italiano, typically a white dog but, also a few other colours-the rarer clear
red/deep orange which was favoured by late Victorian breeders in the UK.
A few extracts from Toy Dogs
and their Ancestors, 1911, Lady Wentworth marked by *
* “The
Pomeranian is one of the oldest breeds. I have traced him back in perfect shape
to 400 B.C., as will be seen by the accompanying illustrations from Greek
vases. Before this, he existed in the Archaic period of Greek art (anything
beyond 800 B.C.) The original colour was cream or white.”
*”From
Greece I have traced the dogs on to the Roman Empire, and thence all through
Italy to France and Germany. ‘Melitaie’ was the name by which the Greeks called
them. Models of a ‘Pomeranian’ dog and a ‘Maltese’ dog of the conventional type
were dug up at Fayyum in Egypt, and date from 200 B.C. There is no evidence to
show whether these breeds were imported from Malta or exported there from
Egypt.”
As mentioned further in the book (have
a read online) ‘Melitaie’ described earlier versions of both a Pomeranian type
and a Maltese type of dog depending from which area they came.
In Germany existed similar dogs with
a variety of names and in a wide range of sizes. These including, by the late
18th century the Pommer-the fox sized Red Sable Fuchs Spitz also
called the Wißbader Spitz (Spitz from Wiesbaden), the Wolfsspitz or Wolfshund
and the Spitz or Fix hund. The
Mannheimer Zwergspitz (1.8-3.6 kg) was a dog down-sized in the 19th
century from dogs averaging 30-35cm (quite small already), usually black but
could also be white, wolf grey and brown.
Holland had much the same selection
as Germany and France and by the mid 1780’s the name Keeshond came into use and
then, as now, applied to all Spitz sizes and colours. The British and American
classification of Keeshond(overweight Pomeranian or so-called Dutch Barge Dog)
was adopted by the KC in 1926-the majority of breeders of the day decided to
concentrate on wolf sable exclusively(although other colours were occasionally
bred until the late 1930’s) some other colours even appearing today in Keeshond
litters but highly discouraged.
In Britain all regional European
varieties (regardless of size, colour or name in country of origin) were lumped
together under the English term Pomeranian (most probably derived from the name
Pommer) from 1760 onwards. Imports usually came from Italy (Volpino Italiano), Germany
(Fuchs Spitz/Mannheimer Zwergspitz), France(Lulu), Switzerland, Austria,
Holland and Belgium(Keeshond).
*”A
parti-coloured ‘Pomeranian’ type is to be seen in the thirteenth century
Chinese painting of Mao I.”
*
“E. Topsell, in 1607, wrote as follows: ‘Nowadays they have found another
breede of little dogs in all nations besides the Melitoean dogs, either made so
by art as inclosing their bodies in the earth when they are whelped so as they
cannot grow great by reason of the place, or else lessening and impayring their
growth by some kind of meat or nourishment. These are called, in Germany,
Brachen Schofhundle and Gutschen Hundle, and in Italian Bottolo. Other nations
have no common name for this kind that I know. Martiall made this distich of a
little French dog, for about Lyons in France there are a store of this kind and
sold very deare, sometimes for ten crownes and sometimes for more. They are not above a foote or halfe a foote
long and always the lesser the more delicate and precious. Their head like the head of a mouse, but
greater, their snowt sharpe, their ears like that of a cony, short legs, little
feete, long taile, and white colour, and the haires about the shoulder longer
than ordinary is most commended. They are of pleasant disposition and will
leape and bite without pinching, and barke prettily, and some of them are
taught to stand upright, holding up their forelegs like hands to fetch and
carry in their mouths that which is cast unto them.”
It is true that the popularity gained
from royal involvement did contribute to the downsizing of the breed. By the
1800's the British basically just carried on where the Germans left off except
they sometimes included Italian dogs in their lines. (Classes at dog shows for
the under 4.5kg size pre-dated the foundation of The Pomeranian Club by 5
years)
When trying to decipher the early
history of the Pomeranian it is notable to mention that they may not refer to
the breed you think they are but, rather some version of the Spitz dogs, as
early writers lumped all Spitz, regardless of size, colour or country of origin,
under the term Pomeranian, thus it is wise to research some of these other
ancestors as well.
I am not going to divulge any further
spoilers as I want you all to visit the Pomkins Pomeranians website and have a
look under the link Pomeranian Project.
Vivienne has done extensive and impressive research on the breed’s early
history and I doubt you will find anything as accurate as the work she has done
here.
The PDF provided is a simplified
version of the Pomeranian Project- a breed history project compiled by Vivienne
Peterson and Vycki Brock of Pomkins Pomeranians.
For the full history, which Vivienne
updates regularly as she uncovers more interesting facts, visit Pomkins- a
great website where you will also see examples of colours as well as grooming
tips. Thanks Vivienne for all your help.
I hope to one day have the time to
sift through South Africa’s own Pomeranian history and compile a similar
project for breed enthusiasts.
To download PDF of Discover Dogs History Written by Vivienne Peterson of Pomkins click here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0nR7-DraQBLRW9sRld6cW9iM1U/edit?usp=sharing