Before the 19th Century, animals were kept in their place in paintings. However, the Victorian era brought with it a huge expansion to the middle classes, most of whom kept a pet. These newly "respectable" families took delight in seeing human emotions and familiar domestic situations portrayed through the antics of animals in art. 

Arthur John Elsley was a fine example of this phenomenon of Victorian animal art. He was born on the 20th November 1860 in London, the son of John