This is an early retriever. My guess is that Nep was a St. John’s water dog with feathering, an early version of what we’d later call the wavy-coated retriever or the flat-coated retriever. The name “Nep” is short for Neptune, a very common name for St. John’s water dogs and other Newfoundland dogs from the time period.
Look at how he marks the “blackcock.”
Blackcock is another word for the male black grouse. Hens of the species are called “greyhen,” because they are gray.
Nep is a very nice dog to my eye. He reminds me of Queen Victoria’s collies. Sir Henry, however, isn’t half as well put together as the dog. Is it just me or are his body proportions out of scale?
He has some legs on him, doesn’t he? LOL
If he dismounted, his navel would be roughly on level with the horse’s withers. I’ve heard of artistic license, but in this case that license should be revoked.
I was thinking the same thing!