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Bronze heraldic crest and torse in the form of a rampant spaniel with slipped coronet by F N Bose ARSA

Photographer: unknown

Bronze heraldic crest and torse in the form of a rampant spaniel with slipped coronet by F N Bose ARSA

Bose himself may have been responsible for the photography however he is known to have had his own portrait taken by the Edinburgh-based commercial…

Bose himself may have been responsible for the photography however he is known to have had his own portrait taken by the Edinburgh-based commercial photographer Drummond Young whilst another Edinburgh photographer Francis Caird Inglis recorded other of Bose's sculptural works and he may have engaged either of them to record this piece.

The piece depicted appears to be an heraldic device taking the form of a crest, the topmost element of a coat of arms other than a motto above it, being the head and front paws of a spaniel-like dog in a rampant pose, its mouth open and its paws raised, a slipped coronet round its neck and seated on a circular torse representing the twisted fabric by which the crest would originally be attached to the helmet.

Several Scottish clans feature a dog as their crest. Clan Hunter has the slipped coronet but on a greyhound, whilst clans Melville and Forrester deploy a spaniel but not with the slipped coronet.

The piece is unidentified. Bose had a studio space (as did Phoebe Traquair and Joseph Hayes) in the Dean Studio where Sir Robert Lorimer RSA tried out a plaster mock-up of his designs for the Thistle Chapel interior prior to installation at St Giles. Bose may have seen and been influenced by that, or it may relate to a further commission possibly put his way by Lorimer.