"Real Faithful" Intaglio Dog Seal

This one-of-a-kind necklace is composed of:

• Victorian gold filled watch fob seal from the late 1800s. The blood stone is etched with a scene of a dog facing down a small mouse. The phrase "Real Faithful" with the initials "JP" are also etched into this design. This piece was originally made in England.
  

• This necklace measures a standard 20” on a modern 14k gold filled chain, with the pendant measuring 1" in width.

THE HISTORY

As the population in London grew in the 1800s, overcrowding and inadequate waste management systems caused the hygiene levels to fall and the use of rat-catchers and their ratting dogs rose in popularity - due to rodents contributing to the spread of many diseases. Even though these dogs were used to curb the spread of unwanted and deathly illnesses, "ratting" became quite the sport in the process: The Guinness Book of World Records dates an early listing to the "fastest canine rat catcher" a bull-and-terrier dog named Billy, who killed 100 rats in 5 minutes 30 seconds (average of one rat every 3.3 seconds) at an event in 1825. During World War I, ratting dogs were used to control rat populations in trenches.