French bulldog Viking portrait: the history behind this fun mashup

Part 1

Why a French bulldog in a Viking portrait is an anachronism

If you put your dog in a Viking-style portrait, you are mixing two very different time periods. French Bulldogs developed from small English bulldogs that were popular in Nottingham lace-making communities by the 1850s. Those dogs later crossed into France during the industrial revolution. The Oseberg ship burial was dated to 834 CE by scientists studying its timbers.

None of this makes the portrait wrong as art, only as history. Enjoying that contrast is part of what makes these portraits appealing to look at with your own dog.

Part 2

What dogs actually lived with the Vikings

The Oseberg ship grave held the remains of two women along with fifteen horses, six dogs, and two oxen. Historians think these animals were sacrificed so they could accompany the women on their journey to the afterlife. That belief fits with wider Norse ideas that ship burials sent the dead off with everything they might need.

• Fifteen horses lay in the grave alongside the ship.
• Six dogs were buried with the two women.
• Two oxen were also included.
• The grave goods also included carved wooden sledges and a four-wheeled cart.

Part 3

How Viking art and imagery depicted animals

The Oseberg ship's bow and stern were carved with animal and human figures, and its prow ends in a curling snakehead. Among the grave goods were five wooden posts with intricately carved animal heads, a type of object not matched at any other Viking excavation. The ship's woodwork is done in the interlocking 'gripping beast' style that historians call the Oseberg style.

The Oseberg ship itself was found in a burial mound near Tønsberg, Norway, and excavated in 1904 and 1905. It is built mostly from oak and stretches more than seventy feet long. Today it is on display at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo.

Part 4

Where the French Bulldog breed really comes from

Breeders developed a smaller version of the English bulldog, sometimes called the Toy Bulldog, and it became popular around Nottingham by the 1850s. Nottingham was a lace-making center, and local lace workers kept these small bulldogs as companions. Some of these workers later moved to France and brought their dogs with them. In France the dogs caught on with tradespeople and café owners before fashionable Parisians took notice. Breeders later settled on the upright bat ear as the breed's defining feature.

The Frenchie's story did not stay only with lace workers. By the 1890s the dogs were popular in Paris, including with artists and entertainers. The painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec even painted a Frenchie named Bouboule, who belonged to a Paris café owner named Madame Palmyre. A disagreement over whether the breed should have upright ears or folded ears led breeders in the United States to found the French Bull Dog Club of America in 1897. The American Kennel Club recognized the French Bulldog as a breed the following year, in 1898.

Part 5

The appeal of placing modern dogs into historical scenes

Part of the fun of a Viking-style portrait is seeing your own dog's personality dropped into a much bigger story. French Bulldogs were bred for companionship, not for hunting, herding, or guarding. Looking at your dog this way does not need to be historically accurate to be enjoyable.