Two artworks in the collection caught my attention and raised many questions. These prominent bovines were hard to look past. Their solid and rectangular figures demanded attention. It also triggered a memory; I have seen other rectangular cows. What is going on here? This stylistic representation was purposeful, but why?
At the start of the 19th century, selective breeding as a practice was on the rise. As the saying goes, "the bigger the better" - this was wholeheartedly taken on board and it became a dedicated pastime. The aim of the game was to create the largest stock possible. This activity of competitive breeding was limited to those of wealth because it was an expensive pastime and not one that livelihood farmers could risk.
Beginning in the 1810s, but reaching its dominance in the 1850s, it became popular for the elite to commission portraits of their prized stock. These portraits were not restricted to cows, rather sheep and pigs were also implicated, although their representational profiles differed. In the cow portraits, their rectangular figure was emphasised; sheep had an oblong emphasis, and pigs were emphatically oval. The common element among the animals were the four spindly legs that carried them.
![Cambridge the Short Horned Cow (1968/62/11). Photo / Supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/EYIFKZVLSXDOXLHWMIRUGMW5IQ.jpg?auth=5d9e2a81b614d495c75d2af2a0a6183d4ab106fefd3adf69a992c5fcf9bd08fc&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
Often, as is the case here, the name of the animal was recorded alongside its age, the owner, its origin farm, and any awards that had been won. Other common descriptors listed the animal's dimensions, and dietary supplements were sometimes noted. These commissioned portraits were an act of self-promotion but were also well received by the public. Etched prints, like these two, were in high demand. Ownership of stock animals were symbols of wealth, but ownership of ginormous animals proved man's ability to conquer nature and improve it. This was what appealed to the people of 19th-century Britain. These portraits boasted about human influence and dominance.