History of Origin

This noble and distinguished breed of scent hound is one of the oldest originating from France and the Swiss borders. Bred for hunting small deer, rabbits and hares and wild boar in some regions.

Believed to descend from the Montaimboeuf  breed which is now extinct, possibly English harriers and the likeness of Swiss Laufhunds. The Porcelaine could be traced back as far as the 1600's although thought to be considerably older. Originally, examples were larger with coarser hair. The Porcelaine only continues it's revival due to the dedication and enthusiasm by the French and Swiss in 1845 following the Porcelaines depletion during the time of the French revolution in the 1700's.

The breed is said to have an established history connected to the monasteries and abbeys of Cluny and Luxeuil where they were kept by the monks.

In 1971 the Porcelaine club was established in France.

Research tells of the Rousseau family originally from the East of France who during the French revolution fled to Louisiana with their Porcelaines where they acquired a lot of land in the form of plantations. Over the following years the Porcelaine numbers had increased into  hundreds where they would hunt on the plantations. Interestingly, an oil painting depicting a kill of a panther by some thirty one Porcelaine hounds set in Louisiana was displayed as part of an exhibition in Paris in 1906 by the family. With the end of the Civil War came the break up of many plantations, with the hounds being left to surrounding plantation owners as the family moved West. Despite the numbers of hounds, pure breeding of the Porcelaine was eventually lost here at this time, although it did go on to help create many American hound breeds.

The Porcelaine is still considered a rare breed and remains mostly native to France, Switzerland and Italy, the Porcelaines are fiercely and justly guarded by their proud nations and owners.