Pet Setter, from the Household Pets series (N194) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1891

Curator: Oh, look at this curious card! What do you think, Editor? It whispers of another time, doesn't it? Editor: It does indeed! I immediately notice this overwhelming feeling of gentle optimism. The colour palette is rather faded, but very appealing. Curator: It's entitled "Pet Setter," part of the "Household Pets" series created by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. in 1891. So, think late Victorian era, but not quite the stiff upper lip you might expect! Editor: Well, let’s get into that “Pet” theme, shall we? In the Victorian era, pets became potent symbols of status. Upper and middle-class households found joy, love, and comfort in animal companions. Curator: Yes, I love how the setter holds a tiny basket in its mouth as if offering flowers to someone. A lovely gift of labour and love… and good companionship. Editor: The placement of the female figure looms heavily on my mind, though. It has this very pronounced aesthetic quality. The soft blush on her cheeks, her yellow hat, her positioning directly over the dog, and the title of the artwork. Everything intersects at this axis. This suggests something about how animals might act as an accessory to social and cultural standards of beauty. Curator: That's a very astute observation! Perhaps this suggests the complex relationships between people and their pets—more complex than they would appear. She gazes outwards as though admiring this good "boy" Editor: True. It’s intriguing how a seemingly simple image like this, designed for mass consumption as part of a cigarette card series, opens up so many pathways to examine society at the turn of the century. Curator: It’s a small thing, a miniature world rendered in watercolour illustration, yet the artist was very deft in capturing not just the physical attributes of his subjects—man and dog!—but something of their spirit, their interiority. Editor: Yes, it offers a glimpse into a bygone era—one of idealized domesticity, social performance, and emergent understandings of animals. Curator: For me, there's such innocence here, a celebration of beauty found in the ordinary. It almost feels, now, like a talisman against the harsher realities.