Craigdarroch Castle : Artwork : etching [2017.016.003]

Artwork

Accession Number

2017.016.003

Description

A circa 1911 etching of Victoria's Inner Harbour. In the foreground is a cluster of five figures, one of whom holds a line attached to a small boat. Behind them are two small wooden buildings on floats and a larger, two store building. The B.C. Legislative Assembly buildings are in the background.

Narrative

Goad’s 1911 Insurance Plan of Victoria, Volume 1, page 46, indicates that the first floating building at left in this image is James Bay Athletic Association’s floating canoe house. The second is the Association’s clubhouse. The tallest frame building at right is the Canadian Pacific Railway’s ticket office on Bellville Street (see BC Archives H-03022). This building was replaced by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Terminal building in 1924.

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.