Collection search - Commandant's cottage, Amherstburg [graphic material]

Record information – Brief
1
Commandant's cottage, Amherstburg [graphic material]

Hierarchical level:

Item

Date:

[After 1815].

Reference:

R5467-0-7-E

Type of material:

Art

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

179215

Context of this record:

Show detail Hide detail

Commandant's cottage, Amherstburg
Link to this record

Add to My Research

Link to this record

This link identifies the web page describing this particular record. Unlike the temporary link in your browser, this link will allow you to access, and reference, this page in the future. To link to this descriptive record, copy and paste the URL where ever needed (wiki, blog, document).

Sign in

Sign in to start saving records using My Research

Sign in
Record information – Details

Date(s):

[After 1815].

Place of creation:

Ontario

Extent:

1 watercolour varnished.

Language of material:

English

Added language of material:

English, French

Scope and content:

Show detail Hide detail

Watercolour view of the Commandant's cottage, Fort Malden, in Amherstburg, Ontario, by Catherine Reynolds.

Provenance:

Show detail Hide detail

Reynolds, Catherine, ca. 1782-1864

Biography/Administrative history:

Show detail Hide detail

Reynolds, Catherine, ca. 1782-1864 : Catherine Reynolds was born in 1784, in Detroit, then considered part of the province of Quebec. Her father, Thomas Reynolds, was the Assistant Commissary Officer there. When the British surrendered Detroit to the Americans in 1796 in accordance with the terms of the Jay Treay of 1794, the garrison moved eighteen miles south, to the Canadian shore, establishing a military post at a site alternatively referred to as Malden and Amherstburg. Her father retained his post as commissary officer, responsible for the building of the Fort. His family of three sons, Thomas Augustus, Ebenezer and Robert, and daughters Catherine and Margaret, accompanied him, setting up a new household in Amherstburg. Upon her father's death in 1810, her brother Robert succeeded his father as Deputy Assistant Commissary General, building a Georgian-style residence entitled "Belle Vue" where Catherine lived until her death in 1864. Despite never travelling abroad, Catherine Reynolds would have been exposed to the many British officers, visiting the garrison town, who were trained in topographical sketching. Although an assiduous copyist of European landscapes, she was not prolific and is best-known for scenes close to her home in Amherstburg, notably the residences of her two brothers. She is considered one of Ontario's first native-born artists. See National Archives' artist's file 705-398.

Additional information:

Show detail Hide detail

Citation/reference note:

See: Fort Malden: a structural narrative history 1796-1976, by Dennis Carter-Edwards, (Ottawa): Parks Canada, 1980. This publication provides salient architectural information on buildings in the Amherstburg area, the site of this watercolour.

Copy/version note:

A similar version of this watercolour, by Catherine Reynolds, is in the collection of the Fort Malden National Historic Site. Their version is a watercolour in sepia tones of the same subject and view; however, their copy does not include some of the architectural and foliage details, the small children playing in the lane, and the boats on Lake Erie in the distance.

Related material:

Other works by Catherine Reynolds are in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts. Also, works by the artist which were formerly in the collection of the Hiram Walker Museum in Windsor have now been transferred to Windsor's Community Museum - François Baby House. For information call: (519) 253-1812.

Source:

Private

Related control no.:

Show detail Hide detail

2000-01060-1
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Show detail Hide detail

Graphic (art)

[Consultation90 Open]
Researchers must be accompanied by an art archivist.

Item no. assigned by LAC [R5467] 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

Show detail Hide detail

Copyright expired. Credit the National Archives of Canada.

You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.

Cannot visit us on site? You can purchase a copy to be sent to you. Some restrictions may apply.

Report a problem on this page

Date modified:: 2024-07-04