dog silk

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1896
www.metmuseum.org (OASC)

Imagine a whole dress of this material:  gray silk puppies for yards and yards.  This textile dates from Edo-era Japan, particularly the 18th or 19th century, which I think is borne out in the appealing netsuke-like roundness of their heads and bodies.  The Edo period saw a number of new artistic influences in Japanese culture combined with tight social and class rules, some of which regarded what you could and couldn't wear in the way of luxury fabrics.  I'm betting this is one of the results: if you're not allowed to wear richly patterned brocades, but you can wear woven silk, of course you're going to encourage attractive and clever patterns.