Though the body depicted in Slide 1 is in repose, those eyes are appealingly alert, as is the ever-so-slightly cocked head, rising from a perch of wispy fur. There is as much watchfulness in the face as ease, and there is considerable dignity in that bearing.

The dog isn’t bad, either.

O.K., we’re not the first to note such resemblances. But the approach of the 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show gave us a good excuse to raid the photo archives for examples of fine looking, well bred, aristocratic creatures — and the dogs they loved.

Davis and Sanford Studio

The mere association with a renowned human name added value to a dog’s life. In 1912, for instance, a kennel in Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., advertised collie puppies for $20. (That would have bought you a suit or overcoat at Weber & Heilbroner at the time.) The kennel said they were “superbly bred, tracing from Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan’s famous $5,000 champion Wishaw Clinker.”

Speaking of that progenitor, the Dog Fancier magazine said, “His head, although a trifle strong, was of correct shape and type, and in eyes, ears and expression he left little to be desired.”

Morgan, on the other hand, was famously described by John Dos Passos as “a bullnecked irascible man with small black magpie’s eyes and a growth on his nose.” So, maybe not every owner and dog looks alike.

For a look at New York City as “a dog-art town,” see Randy Kennedy’s article “Sit. Stay. Good Art.,” which was published last Friday in The Times.