Dog – The Golden Dog

The legend of the Golden Dog:  In Passage du Chien d’Or, an alleyway near the top of the Côte de la Montagne in Quebec City, an enigmatic bas-relief adorns the pediment of the Louis S. St. Laurent building, the former main post office. It shows a golden dog gnawing on a bone with the following inscription:

“Je suis un chien qui ronge lo / En le rongeant je prend mon repos / Un tems viendra qui nest pas venu / Que je morderay qui maura mordu.”

(I am a dog gnawing my bone / In so doing I rest alone / A time will come that’s yet to be / When I bite he who’s bitten me).

This odd verse has given rise to a number of legends, all turning on the theme of revenge. Centuries have passed but the golden dog has maintained its hold on the collective imagination. It has been variously represented, appropriated, interpreted and reinterpreted, and carved out its niche as part of Quebec’s cultural heritage.

This French faience inkwell by ALCIDE CHAUMEIL features the Golden Dog and is brightly hand decorated in striking colors with fleur-de-lis everywhere.