The papillon, also called the Continental Toy Spaniel, is a breed of dog of the Spaniel type. One of the oldest of the toy Spaniels, it derives its name from its characteristic butterfly-like look of the long and fringed hair on the ears. A papillon with dropped ears is called a phalène. The small head is slightly rounded between the ears with a well defined stop. The muzzle is somewhat short, thin tapering to the nose. The dark, medium sized, round eyes have thin black rims, often extending at the junction of the eyelids towards the ears. The large ears can either be erect or dropped with rounded tips. The teeth meet in a scissors bite. The long tail is set high carried over the body, and covered with long, fine hair. Dewclaws are sometimes removed. The straight, long, fine, single coat has extra frill on the chest, ears, back of the legs and the tail. Coat color is white with patches of any color. A mask of a color other than white covers both ears and eyes from back to front.
The most distinct aspect of the papillon is its ears which are large and well fringed giving them a butterfly wing-like appearance. Papillons are parti-colored or white with patches of any color. An all-white dog or a dog with no white is disqualified from the conformation show ring. A blaze and noseband is preferred over a solid-colored head, but not required. Nose, eye-rims, and lips should be black. Paw pads vary in color from black to pink, depending on the coloring of the dog.
Papillons can be registered with the American Kennel Club as the following colors and markings, with types indicated as S-standard or A-alternate for show purposes
The history of the papillon is traced through works of art. The earliest toy spaniels resembling the papillon are found in Italy. Tiziano Vicelli painted these small dogs in many famous paintings beginning around 1500 including the Venus of Urbino. Other well known artists who included them in paintings are Watteau Gonzalez Coques, Fragonard, Paolo Veronese, and Mignard. In a painting after Largillierre in the Wallace Collection in London, a papillon is clearly shown in a family portrait of Louis XIV. Papillons are also in paintings of royal families around Europe and paintings of merchant class families. The breed was popular in England, France, and Belgium, which are considered countries of origin by the FCI.
The "Titian spaniels" and those portrayed by later artists through Mignard and his contemporaries had the drooping ears characteristic of today's Phalène; it was not until the end of the 19th century that the erect-eared appearance became fashionable and gave the breed's modern name, papillon, French for "butterfly". The Titian spaniels were also exclusively red-and-white in coloration, in contrast to the many recognized colorations of today's papillon.
The papillon's history and long association with royalty have led to many stories about the breed. Marie Antoinette is said to have walked to the guillotine clutching her small dog under her arm,[5] likely an apocryphal tale. However, tradition has it that Marie Antoinette's dog was a small spaniel that had been brought to the French court from Spain on the back of pack mules. According to the story, her pup was spared and cared for in a building in Paris still called the Papillon House. Marie Antoinette's dog was said to have descended from a very old drop-eared breed known as the Epagneul Nain Continental, or Continental Dwarf/Toy Spaniel that appeared in church frescos and paintings as early as the 13th century.
The papillon is still officially referred to as the Epagneul Nain Continental in non-English-speaking countries. The name Squirrel Spaniel also has been used, most likely referring to an earlier standard in which the tail set is described as "curling over the back as a squirrel's". One version of the history of the two varieties of ear shape in the ENC is that toward the end of the 19th century, breed fanciers bred a version of the spaniel whose ears stood up. This dog was said to have been nicknamed papillon based on the impressively large, erect ears that resembled the wings of a butterfly. The drop-eared variety of the breed came to be called the Phalène. Both types are still bred today and appear in the same litter. The papillon variety is much more common, although recently the Phalène has undergone a resurgence in popularity.
The papillon was first recognized by the AKC in 1935 with the formation of the Papillon Club of America. By the end of the war, the club was no longer functioning, but it was reactivated in 1948, with its first post war specialty held in September 1954. In 1999, Ch. Loteki Supernatural Being owned and handled by John Oulton of Norwalk Connecticut, became the first papillon to win the prestigious "Best in Show" at the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Kirby also won international success for the b