Henry Berger Jr. Of Mirasol Kennel

 

Henry Berger, Jr. (American, 1877-1939), Untitled (Self-Portrait with Dog), ca. 1915,

This photograph is from the collection of the Portland Art Museum: Henry Berger, Jr., Untitled (Self-Portrait with Dog), ca. 1915, platinum print with hand coloring.

H. Berger Jr. was a well-known photographer who was experimenting with color photography as early as the beginning of the 20th century.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Henry Berger Jr. bred Collies. In 1908, the AKC Stud Book lists a Borzoi named Kashin O’Valley Farm (Nenagladni of Perchina – Alaska O’Valley Farm) as registered to H. Berger Jr., Portland. In 1913, the littermates Baldos and Boris of Mirasol (Zyclon of Perchino – Salain O’Valley Farm), born on December 3, 1912, were also registered to him.
However, Berger did (not?) become a Borzoi breeder, as early as February 7, 1914, an advertisement appeared in Field and Fancy offering three 15-month-old Borzoi puppies for sale. One of the puppies was sired by Lasky O’Valley Farm, while the other two were sired by Ch. Zyclon of Perchina.
The light color of the Borzoi in the photograph (white?) rules out Boris of Mirasol, whose color was white and red, and probably also Baldos of Mirasol, who was white and gray. Therefore, the dog in the photograph was presumably a puppy sired by Lasky OVF, although I could not find any information about the puppy’s name or its dam.
Lasky OVF was bred to many females, but taking into account the age of the puppies given in the advertisement (15 months), many of the litters can be ruled out. It is therefore possible that the dog in the photograph was from the Lasky – Valeska Bailiff litter, born on November 1, 1912. This possibility is further supported by the fact that the puppies’ dam, Valeska Bailiff, was white in color./Andrus Kozlov

 

Year of Event:

Country:

America (USA)

Personal Collections:

Source:

 

Author:

Dan Persson

Dogs:

 

Persons: