Besieged, 1893

Arthur John Elsley (born 1861)

Oil on canvas

The dog in this painting is almost one of the family and seems to be enjoying taking part in this chaotic scene.

William Hesketh Lever, the first Lord Leverhulme, originally purchased this painting for advertising purposes. A bar of Sunlight Soap was added to the picture in the advertisements.

Lever started to buy notable contemporary British paintings for use as soap advertisements in 1887. The paintings, although set in humble interiors, tended to emphasise the importance of good clothes, personal appearance and cleanliness. An innovative marketer, Lever offered high quality reproductions of the paintings as prizes for collecting a large quantity of soap wrappers.

Read more about Lord Leverhulme the collector, and how he built the Lady Lever Art Gallery to house his outstanding collection of works of art.

From the Lady Lever Art Gallery, accession number LL 3417

In this section

• 'Fidelity'
• Sniffer dogs
• Wooden toy dogs
• Spiked dog collar
• Brindle dog
• 'His Turn Next'
• Jet of Iada
• Rope dog collar
• Jasperware canister
• 'Besieged'
• Stoneware greyhound fairings
• Dog Roses
• Dogs online exhibition

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