Re: True royal dog in Bourbon French Court

A minor detail but important if research on the Royal French Bourbon court was done impeccably. Many scenes showed court ladies holding their or children playing with little puppies in the Versailles palace. There were toy poodles, pugs, Italian greyhounds, and a Pekinese (that were not found yet in Europe -even among royalty) since this Chinese breed was protected by the Chinese and not allowed out of the Peking Forbidden City) In fact, anyone with a stolen Pekinese was executed.)

The royal dog in the Bourbon French Court was the Papillon which means "butterfly" in French, due to its wing-like ears.

...well known artists who included them in paintings are Watteau,[10] Gonzales Coques, Fragonard, Paolo Veronese,[9] and Mignard.[9] In a painting after Largillierre in the Wallace Collection in London, a Papillon is clearly shown in a family portrait of Louis XIV.

The Papillon's history and long association with royalty have led to many stories about the breed. Marie Antoinette is said to have walked to the guillotine clutching her small dog under her arm,[10] likely an apocryphal tale. However, tradition has it that Marie Antoinette's dog was a small spaniel that had been brought to the French court from Spain on the back of pack mules. According to the story, her pup was spared and cared for in a building in Paris still called the Papillon House. Marie Antoinette's dog was said to have descended from a very old drop-eared breed known as the Epagneul Nain, or Continental Dwarf/Toy Spaniel that appeared in church frescos and paintings as early as the 13th century.