Collection search - Unknown Officer [graphic material]

Record information – Brief
1
Unknown Officer [graphic material]

Hierarchical level:

Item

Date:

ca. 1775.

Reference:

R5291-0-X-E, Box number: MIN-090

Type of material:

Art

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

2894466

Context of this record:

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Unknown Officer
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Record information – Details
Date(s):

ca. 1775.

Bilingual equivalent:

Click here

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

1 painting / peinture : watercolour on ivory ; image : 4.2 x 3.4 cm Oval, case : 4.8 x 4.0 cm Oval.
Support 4.200 x 3.400 cm
Platemark 4.800 x 4.000 cm

Language of material:

no language

Scope and content:

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Portrait miniature of an unknown officer, previously identified as Sir John Montresor (1736-1799), by an unknown artist.
Sir John Montresor, military engineer, was born in Gibraltar on April 6, 1736, the son of Gabriel Montresor, a British engineer officer. He went with his father to America in 1754, and obtained a commission in the British Army under General Braddock. He was wounded at Monoghela in 1756, and was present at the capture of Louisbourg in 1758 and Quebec in 1759. He also served in the campaign against Montreal in 1759-1760. For two years he carried out surveys on the St. Lawrence River, and in 1763 he was employed to carry despatches by General Amherst to the commander of the garrison at Detroit. In 1764, he helped fortify the Niagara and Detroit frontiers and built Fort Erie. He was later employed as an engineer officer at New York. In 1775 he was commissioned as the chief Army engineer in America, and served throughout the American Revolutionary war until 1778 when he was recalled to England. He resigned from the Army, and subsequently engaged in disputes with the British treasury over his accounts. He died in Maidstone prison, while under surveillance, on June 26, 1799.

John Montresor (1736-1799) was present at Louisbourg in 1758, the siege of Quebec in 1759 and served during the capitulation of Montreal in 1760. Before his appointment as Chief Civil Engineer in America in 1775, he spent fifteen years involved in surveying, mapping and planning fortifications in North America and built Fort Erie. He served in the American Revolutionary War and returned to England in 1778, retiring from the army. He was incarcerated in Maidstone Prison, for outstanding debts owed, where he died.

Additional name(s):

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Artist: Unknown

Additional information:

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Custodial history:

Portrait miniature acquired at auction, at Christie, Manson and Wood, London, England, Miniature Sale, 7 November 1988, Lot 101.

Availability of other formats note:

Colour transparency available

Exhibitions note:

Exhibition title: Small Wonders: A National Archives of Canada Exhibition of Portrait Miniatures; Exhibition of Reproductions. Curators: Martha Marleau, National Archives of Canada, cat. no.: 5b. Further venue: National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario: 1995.02.13-1995.06.26., Exhibition title: I Know You by Heart: Portrait Miniatures / Je vous connais par coeur : portraits en miniature. Curator: Johanna Mizgala. Library and Archives Canada Exhibition. New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick; 2012.09.20 - 2012.12.31., Further venue: Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; 2013.03.22 -2013.06.02.

Signatures and inscriptions note:

Inscribed., Inscription: Inscribed in pen and ink, verso [visible through window]: Capt. Sir / John Mont / ressor [sic]

Container note(s):

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C-133736 : recto in locket
Subject heading:

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Portraits

Miniature

Jewelry

Montresor, Sir John
Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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039-89
1989-075 DAP

Other accession no.:

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1989-075 DAP
00001
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Conditions of access:

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Graphic (art)

[Consultation90 Open]
Physical access through an art archivist. No restrictions on use for reproduction or publication

Box [1989-075]

[Consultation 90 Open]

MIN-090 Item no. assigned by LAC 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Copy negative [1989-075]

[Consultation 90 Open]

C-133736 Item no. assigned by LAC 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1989-75-1
Copyright: Expired

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