Favourites, the Property of H.R.H. Prince George of Cambridge

Favourites, the Property of H.R.H. Prince George of Cambridge (1834) is a commissioned portrait of specific dogs belonging to a specific royal owner — Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, Queen Victoria's cousin. The Yale Center for British Art holds this canvas, one of the relatively few Landseer royal commissions that left the immediate royal family's hands and entered the collecting market. By 1834 Landseer had fully established himself as the painter of choice for aristocratic dog portraits, and commissions like this one formed the commercial backbone of his practice. The full title, with its reference to Prince George's ownership, reflects the Victorian convention of attributing pet portraits not to their animal subjects but to their distinguished owners.

Canvas with Landseer's mid-career handling at its most polished for aristocratic commission work. Multiple dogs — the title's plural 'favourites' — require compositional management while maintaining individual characterization for each animal. The implied outdoor or domestic setting provides the contextual frame.