Neptune, the Property of W. Ellis Gosling, Esq. (1824)
by
Sir Edwin Landseer
This painting was commissioned of Landseer (1802 - 1873) by the dog's owner, the banker W. E. Gosling. Landseer had already painted this dog twice before: The Twa Dogs (1822), and Newfoundland and Terrier at a Stream (1822)
Gosling honored his beloved Newfoundland even further: after Neptune died, Gosling had this picture re-framed using oak from the famed British warship Temeraire, and added a plaque "that likened Neptune's sense of duty to that of Nelson's sailors" — "Nelson" being Admiral Horatio Nelson, the renowned British naval hero who defeated Napoleon's navy. (Sam Willis, The Fighting Temeraire, p. 246)
This work was offered at auction (Christie's) on June 22, 2007, with an estimated price of $800,000 to $1,200,000 US. It did not sell.