Crib and Rosa is an 1817 painting by Samuel Raven, a follower of Abraham Cooper

Abraham Cooper

Abraham Cooper , English animal and battle painter, the son of a tobacconist, was born in London.At the age of thirteen he became an employee at Astley's Amphitheatre, and was afterwards groomed in the service of Sir Henry Meux...

; Christie's

Christie's

Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...

 attributes the painting to the latter, noting a variant held by the American Kennel Club

American Kennel Club

The American Kennel Club is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. Beyond maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, an annual event which predates the official...

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The painting depicts Crib and Rosa, two well known Old English Bulldog

Old English Bulldog

The Old English bulldog was a breed of dog.-Appearance:The Old English bulldog was compact, broad and muscular, as reflected in the well-known depiction Crib and Rosa. The average height was approximately 15 inches, and they weighed about 45 pounds...

s. Rosa was considered to represent correct formation for bulldogs at that time. Through John Scott's engraving

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

, this painting became the best-known and most reproduced painting of dogs from that period. This painting provides an image of the extinct Old English Bulldog breed

Dog breed

Dog breeds are groups of closely related and visibly similar domestic dogs, which are all of the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris, having characteristic traits that are selected and maintained by humans, bred from a known foundation stock....

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The image was frequently referred to by exhibitors as an ideal form of the breed. Writing at the end of the nineteenth century, Dalziel says any deficiencies in the otherwise perfect outline of Rosa was due to her sex; lacking desired characteristics of wrinkles and bone structure.