Accession Number

983.755a

Description

An oil painting on canvas depicting a multi-peaked mountain landscape, the colouration of the peaks pinkish and fading to brownish gray at the mountain’s base, the left forefront comprised of deciduous trees, rocky outcroppings, the background in evergreens, the right foreground comprised of coniferous trees, the signature “F Schafer” at bottom left corner. On the verso, the stretcher bears a red ink stamp of the frame manufacturer, "T. J. Sass Co.; 14-16 Ellic(e) St. S.F." and includes a red outline of an eagle with outspread wings stamped beneath it. Inscribed by hand on the verso is the title, “Ev. On Mt. Tamalpais Cal.”

Narrative

This painting was owned by Joan Olive Dunsmuir and sold from Craigdarroch’s dining room as lot #106 at the June 21, 1909 Dunsmuir Executor’s auction. It is one of eight Schafer paintings sold from Craigdarroch at that auction. Mount Tamalpais is in Marin County, north of San Francisco, CA. The mountain is largely protected public land -  Mount Tamalpais State Park, and Muir Woods National Monument.

Most members of the Dunsmuir family would have been familiar with Mt. Tamalpais. On clear days, it could be seen from San Francisco, a city that most Dunsmuirs visited. This painting’s history as part of the Dunsmuir family’s original furnishings of the house makes it a highly significant object in The Castle Society’s Primary Collection.
Jereome Saltzer’s on-line record of this painting can be accessed here: http://ffscat.csail.mit.edu/ffshtml/descrs/FFSd0252.htm

History of Use

This painting might have been purchased by Joan Olive Dunsmuir at an 1891 auction conducted by Frederick Schafer in Victoria. The donor's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Scott of Victoria (builders of Victoria’s now demolished Scott Building), purchased the painting in Craigdarroch’s dining room during Joan Dunsmuir’s Executor’s auction held at Craigdarroch Castle on June 21, 1909 (lot #106). The painting hung in their Oak Bay home until it was returned to Craigdarroch. The picture was donated to the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society by the Scotts' daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Crane in 1969. This provenance is explained in writer Dorothy Wrotnowski’s article in the Victoria newspaper, The Daily Colonist, March 21, 1969, page 3.

Date

1880 – 1890

Dimensions

74.5 x 125.5 cm

Artwork Title

Ev. On Mt. Tamalpais Cal. (Evening on Mt. Tamalpais, Marin County, California)

Subject/Image

Mt. Tamalpais, California

Medium

Oil

Support

Canvas

Technique

Painted

Inscription

Printed by hand on the back of the canvas bottom right corner in a black paint is Ev. on Mt. Tamalpais Cal.; The E has short stroke marks on each tip of the E. In top centre of stretcher in pencil is 84

Country of Origin

United States of America