John Lewis Stone was born in Kentucky and learned the potter’s trade at Cornwall and Wallace Kirkpatrick’s Anna Pottery in Anna, Illinois, famous for its snake-covered, so-called temperance jugs. Stone came to Texas and managed William Knox’s pottery at Oletha in Limestone County; he also worked for the pottery’s subsequent owner, John Fowler, until 1875.

Incised with his initials, J. L. S., this spaniel was a popular form throughout the 1800s. Ultimately, it was inspired by the famous Staffordshire spaniels or by an American version of them. By contrast to its British and American counterparts, Stone's figure is not molded but sculpted entirely by hand.