Beagle Crystal Glass Holiday Ornament - Dogs of the South of France

The Beagle. Head up, ears swinging, white tail flag going like a metronome, and somebody's espadrille in his mouth. He did not find it; he chose it. This is our pen-and-ink beagle trotting up a Riviera beach with the one thing on it he was not supposed to have.

The beagle is the small English scent hound, bred for centuries to run hare on foot behind a pack of his own kind, and he still hunts with his nose first and the rest of him following. Elizabeth I kept pocket beagles small enough to ride in a saddlebag; the modern breed took shape in the 1830s from the Essex pack of the Reverend Phillip Honeywood, and it was recognized in America in 1885, in two sizes, under thirteen inches and under fifteen. He is built to be looked at from above by a man on foot: compact, square, tricolor, with the low-set ears that sweep the ground and the white-tipped tail that lets the huntsman find him in the brush. He is one of the most popular dogs in America and has been for a century, and the United States Department of Agriculture trusts his nose to find contraband fruit in airport luggage.

Anyone who lives with one knows the trade-off: the sweetest face in dogdom attached to a nose that answers to no one, a voice that carries three fields, and a lifelong professional interest in whatever you just put down. This ornament is for that dog. Celebrate the beagle who runs your house, or keep one close on the tree every December. He is the fourth of our Dogs of the South of France - La Collection des Chiens de la Côte d’Azur - and the only one who arrived with luggage that was not his.

For beagle people, for hound people, for anyone with a dog worth an ornament, and for the friend who is still talking about theirs.

The art is our own drawing, printed on a three-inch faceted crystal glass round and white-backed so the ink lines read sharp against a lit tree; the espadrille is the only color in the picture, in the same faded holiday red as the rest of the series. The faceted edge catches light from every angle. Arrives boxed - your choice of white or gold gift box at checkout.

3-inch (76 mm) round crystal glass ornament · faceted gem-cut edge · white-backed print for crisp contrast · red ribbon hanger · your choice of white or gold gift box, included · free U.S. shipping.