Historical Overview of

The Pekingese Club of America By Tony Rosato

The Pekingese made its first appearance outside of 19th

century China when five Sleeve Pekes between 3-6 pounds

were brought to England from Beijing (then Peking) in

1860 following the storming of the Imperial Summer

Palace in Beijing by British and French soldiers. In those

days the breed was known as Pekingese Spaniels, as well as

“Sun Dogs,” “Lion Dogs” and “Pekingese Pugs.”

Pekingese were first classified in England in 1898 together

with Japanese Chin which were called “Japanese Spaniels”

then and until 1977. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s

the two breeds were very similar in appearance with Chins

tending to breed true as opposed to the Pekingese which did

not. Since that time, Chins have remained virtually

unchanged while Pekingese have of course changed quite

radically in appearance -- but not character.

Pekingese Spaniel Japanese Spaniel

Forty-one years after the breed’s appearance in England, a

Peke was shown in Philadelphia by Mrs. George Thomas,

and the breed immediately endeared itself to prominent

exhibitors as it has ever since.

Through the years Pekingese have

been one of the Top Toys, with

three Westminster Best in Show

winners and five Pekingese that

became #1 All Breeds. One of

them, Ch. Chik T’Sun of

Caversham (on right), held the All-

breed Best in Show record for 22

years.

In 1907, AKC officially recognized Pekingese. Two years

before that, a Peke male who

would become the first AKC

Champion, Ch. Tsang of

Downshire (on left), was first

shown at Cedarhurst, Long

Island, owned by a British

immigrant, Mrs. Mabel Mandy,

a founding member and the first President of The

Pekingese Club of America (PCA).

Along with Mrs. Mandy was a group of socialites from the New

York City area who

formed PCA on May

1st 1909 in the

Manhattan law offices

of one of the club

founders, Mr. M.E.

Harby, Esq., who was

also the Club’s first

Show Chairman and

whose wife was also a

PCA Director and top

breeder of Pekingese.

Mrs. Morris Mandy PCA Founder

There were 16 founders, all from New York, except

Margaret Barron of San Francisco.

In addition, though not club founders, two of PCA’s early

patrons were Lady Algernon Gordon Lennox, a breed

pioneer and visionary in the UK, and famed financier

John Pierpont Morgan, a noted sportsman in many breeds,

who became the Honorary President of The Pekingese Club

of America and Vice Chairman of the Peking Palace Dog

Association in Britain.

The Club still offers Mr. Morgan’s

perpetual trophy at its specialty in

Manhattan, originally offered for Best

of Breed and now offered for Best of

Opposite Sex. Morgan's sterling silver

trophy is housed at AKC Headquarters

in New York. It's on permanent

display there, along with PCA’s

prestigious English-made Lasca

McClure Halley Trophy, one of the

largest in the sport, donated in 1929 by

prominent handler Mr. McClure Halley

in memory of his late wife, Lasca, J.P. Morgan

who was a judge and a PCA Director in the 1920’s. These

distinguished sterling silver PCA trophies, appraised in

2008 and said to be "worth a fortune," remain a symbol of

The Pekingese Club of America’s respected heritage.

In 1909, PCA adopted its breed first standard verbatim

from The Pekingese Club in Britain which had been

founded 5 years earlier, and has amended it four times

since then, in 1933, 1956 (adopted by Canada), 1995, and

again in 2004.

Mr. Richard Bauer, handling. Judge, Ms. Clara Alford.

Although the first Chinese imports to England weighed

between 3-9 pounds, the British and American parent clubs

established an 18-pound weight limit to accommodate the

breed’s burgeoning popularity and encourage participation

by more exhibitors. That brought opposition from the

breed purist founders who successfully forced the weight

limit back down, initially to 10 pounds (by forming a new

club - The Pekin Palace Dog Association). But the British

parent club, The Pekingese Club, eventually compromised

to14 pounds which became the limit in the AKC standard

(which added a disqualification over 14 pounds). The

British later amended their standard to read “ideal weight

not to exceed 11 pounds for dogs and 12 pounds for

bitches,” which is current.

The Inaugural PCA Specialty 1911

The Club’s inaugural specialty show was a society event

held on January 18, 1911, in the ballroom of Manhattan's

Plaza Hotel. The judge was club founder Mrs. Benjamin

(Bridget) Guinness of Washington Square in Greenwich

Village. Mrs. Guinness wore long white gloves and sat on

a chair while all the dogs were brought to her one-by-one.

Her Breed winner was Tsang of Downshire (photo above),

winner of the Open Dogs under 8

pounds class. Best of Opposite Sex

went to Ch. Broadoak Fatima, owned

by Mrs. Paul Sorg. Listed in the

show catalog that year was a back

bitch owned by Dr. Mary Cotton, as

follows: “Chaou Ching-Ue.

September 15, 1902. Breeder, the

late Dowager Empress of China.

Pedigree unknown.” The Empress is

credited with writing the original

breed standard on which the British

and American standards were based.

She offered a silver cup as trophy at

PCA’s first specialties.

The Empress Dowager

Since then, PCA has held annual specialties in Manhattan,

moving to back-to-back spring specialties in upstate New York

in 2010. The PCA also had a summer show tradition beginning

in 1917 on the estate of Elbridge Gerry Snow, Jr. in Greenwich,

Connecticut, later holding the summer specialty in conjunction

with Westchester, and Morris and Essex, then in the mid 1980s

with Ox Ridge KC.

UK imports vs. American Breds Only

Early in PCA’s history, and later through the years, Breed

wins were dominated by British imports which caused a

frenzy of anticipation in the early days, along with much

speculation and intrigue for months leading up to the New

York specialty. It got to the point where imports were taken

from arrival on NY harbor and rushed directly to the show.

This unfortunately led to a decline in entries at PCA

Specialties. The Board of Governors reacted by imposing a

restriction in 1935 to

competition of

“American Breds Only”

at the New York

specialty, leaving the

summer show open to

all. Consequently, the

1936 entry for the New

York specialty shot up to

123 under Mrs. James

Austin (Catawba) who

for many years served as Mrs. James Austin

a PCA Vice President.

From that point on, wins at the New York specialty went to

American Pekingese bred or owned by noted breeders such

as Dorothy Quigley of Lock Haven, PA, whose Orchard

Hill Pekes won Best of Breed for 19 years nearly

consecutively. Mr. John B. Royce and Kay Jeffords are

among the other notable breeder-exhibitors whose dogs

have won Best of Breed at PCA's Manhattan show before

the “American Breds Only” restriction was lifted in 1992.

A Distinguished Past

Looking back on the Club’s

distinguished history, among

the devoted individuals who

have shaped the progress of

The Pekingese Club of

America is Mrs. Michael M.

Van Beuren of New York and

Newport, Rhode Island, who

served as President for 40

years beginning in 1913.

Mrs. M. M. Van Beuren

As a point of interest, Mrs. Van Beuren often traveled to

Europe with her Pekingese in a velvet-lined box which

accompanied her personally on the journey. Architects

designed her picturesque kennel to be a replica of her main

residence at her Newport estate.

Mrs. Van Beuren left a token of her dedication to PCA with

a challenge trophy donated in 1945, a sterling silver cup for

Winners Dog, Red or Red/sable shown by the

breeder/owner, which was not retired until 2000, and a

Tiffany water pitcher for Best of Breed if under 8 pounds

which is still offered today.

Mrs. Van Beuren’s kennel – a replica of her Newport home

Mrs. Van Beuren was succeeded as President by Miss Clara

Lowther, followed by Dr. E. R. Blamey for 25 years and

Mrs. Geraldine Hess in 1977. Other early notables in the

club include Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Mapes of the successful

Whitworth kennels, whose niece, Mrs. Fortune (Mary Lou)

Roberts, became one of the respected doyens of PCA and a

Vice President through the 1970s-80s.

One of the most notable driving forces behind PCA since

1950 was Miss Iris de la Torre Bueno, a breeder-exhibitor

of Brussels Griffons, who served as PCA Secretary for 49

consecutive years until her death in Manhattan just prior to

the 1989 PCA Spring Specialty. Iris’ mother, Celia Bueno,

was also one of PCA’s Board of Governors, who together

with Iris owned the All-Celia Kennels of Griffs and Pekes.

Throughout Ms. de la Torre

Bueno’s tenure, PCA’s Specialties

were held in New York City at

various hotels including The

Roosevelt, The Hotel

Pennsylvania, The Loew’s Summit,

The Skyline on 10th Avenue as well

as a hotel in New Rochelle in the

1940’s.

Miss Iris de la Torre Bueno (left)

The Rotating Specialties

PCA’s 75-year tradition of Northeast Specialties gave way

to the annual Rotating specialty (now the National) which

began in 1991 as a 2-3 day event. In December 2009, the

club celebrated its Centennial year with the National in

Indianapolis, a 2-day event judged by Mrs. Peggy Dillard

Carr and Mrs. Martha M. Olmos-Ollivier, both longtime

Pekingese breeder-judges whose centennial assignment

marked their third time judging PCA.

At these historic shows the club re-introduced Junior

Showmanship which had been missing from PCA events for

over 50 years, thus re-establishing PCA's commitment to

development of future Pekingese handlers as well as the

breed's future.

Judge Mrs. Sue Barlow judging Juniors at PCA 2009

In addition, the club holds an annual "Sleeve Show" -- a

special attraction at the National only -- in celebration of the

breed's long-held tradition with small ones which have

always been a favorite of Pekingese fanciers for generations.

PCA Centennial (National) - 2009 Sleeve Show at the Centennial

Judge, Martha M. Olmos-Ollivier Judge, Dr. Simone V.J. Small (London, UK)