| A Jack in Office | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Edwin Landseer |
| Year | 1833 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, genre painting |
| Dimensions | 50.2 cm× 66 cm(19.8 in× 26 in) |
| Location | Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
A Jack in Office is an 1833 oil painting by the British artist Edwin Landseer. [1] The title is a reference to a slang term of the era for a pompous, petty official. It depicts the barrow of a salesman of dog meat who has temporary left it in an alleyway guarded by a Jack Russell Terrier who faces down four other dogs who hope by trickery or force to get their hands on the meat.. [2]
The work was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1833 at Somerset House in London along with another notable Landseer work The Hunted Stag . [3] It was enormously popular with the public. [4]
Today the painting is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington having been acquired through the gift of the art collector John Sheepshanks in 1857. [5]