Craigdarroch Castle : Artwork : etching [2017.016.002]

Artwork

Accession Number

2017.016.002

Description

Etching of a harbour scene. Victoria Harbour circa 1911, looking northwest from Rock Bay near the site of the Victoria Sealing Company wharf. In the foreground is the deck of a sailing vessel. Mid-ground are several sailing ships. The Point Ellice Bridge is in the background.

Narrative

The Point Ellice Bridge in this image is the bridge re-built after the famous May 26, 1896 street car disaster in which 55 people were killed. A still later structure at this crossing is today generally called the Bay Street Bridge. Goad’s 1911 Insurance Plan of Victoria, Volume 1 page 22, indicates that the scene this etching depicts is from the site of the Victoria Sealing Co. Ltd.

This etching is part of a set seven etchings by the highly-regarded American Arts & Crafts painter, sculptor, etcher and picture frame designer Frederick William Harer (1879-1949). These etchings depict early 20^th Century harbour scenes in Victoria and Vancouver with a high degree of aesthetic sensitivity. Their connection to Mary Jean Dunsmuir (Mrs. Henry Croft), herself a painter, musician and lover of theatre, affirms her commitment to art and her appreciation for Victoria’s working harbour, which she saw daily from her Esquimalt (West Bay) waterfront house, Mt. Adelaide.

History of Use

The set of seven etchings, from which this is one, was acquired by Mary Jean Dunsmuir (Mrs. Henry Croft) in about 1913. After her death in 1928, the etchings were inherited by her sister’s son’s daughter, Lucy Lenore Bryden, who bequeathed them to her son, the donor.