Accession Number

2015.012.006a-b

Description

A watercolour painting (b) in its original gilt frame (a), train tracks running from lower right corner into the centre of the scene meeting a dirt road that winds around a corner to the right, a body of water on the left with a sailboat (mid-ground) and range of mountains in the background, two trees and a bridge railing rise above a small hill on the right (mid-ground), the paper picture support beneath gold-coloured matting, the glazed gilt frame bordered with an applied decorative trim in a repeating acanthus scroll-work pattern.

Narrative

The painting is titled “End of Car Line – Oak Bay”. The donor, a Dunsmuir descendant, believes the painting was by Mrs. Samuel (Daisy) Maclure, but former AGGV Curator Robert Amos suspects that it was done by Sarah Crease or Mary Maberly Crease. Craigdarroch Castle Curator Bruce Davies concurs. 

An inscription on the verso indicates that this painting was purchased new by “Mrs. Bryden”. This was probably the senior Mrs. Bryden who was born Elizabeth Hamilton Dunsmuir, later wife to John Cowper Bryden. Less likely is that the name refers to Elizabeth's daughter-in-law, Ellen Gertrude Tarbell (aka "Mimi"), who married Elizabeth's son. John William Bryden in 1905. 

The Victoria street car line was extended to Oak Bay in 1890, confirming that the picture was painted in 1890 or later.

History of Use

This picture was purchased when new by "Mrs. Bryden", who was probably Elizabeth Hamilton Dunsmuir (Mrs. John Cowper Bryden). The painting may have been acquired to hang on the wall in the Bryden's Esquimalt house named Dalzellowlie, which was completed in 1894. 

Sometime after the death of John Cowper Bryden in 1915, the painting was inherited by his son, John William Bryden, and next by his son Gerald Robert Bryden of Royston, and finally by Gerald's daughter, who donated the painting to Craigdarroch Castle in 2015. 

Date

circa 1894

Dimensions

12.7 x 21.59 cm

Material

Paint, watercolour; Paper; Paper, matboard; Wood; Paint, powder; Metal, gold; Glass

Artwork Title

End of Car Line – Oak Bay

Subject/Image

The terminus of the Victoria street car line to Oak Bay, circa 1890.

Inscription

End of car line
Oak Bay
2.00
Gilt Mat
Floral Gilt frame
Bryden
Mrs
 

Country of Origin

Canada