This painting depicts two traders of the Hudson’s Bay Company arriving at their posting at Tadoussac, Quebec, while a guide points the way to the village over the frozen Saguenay River. The older man is George Barnston, who at this point was the chief factor of Tadoussac, a high-ranking commissioned officer who managed the trading post. To the left, carrying a bright copper kettle and green blanket, is the younger R.M. Ballantyne, here depicted at the end of a five-year stint working for the HBC across what is now Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Ballantyne began to write in his journal during this period as well as letters to his distant mother—both of which ultimately led him to publish a novel, Hudson’s Bay; or, Every-Day Life in the Wilds of North America, in 1848, after his return to Europe. He followed this with a lengthy and successful career writing adventure novels, often drawing on his early experience with the HBC.

In Charles Comfort’s dramatic composition, both traders wear capotes, hooded coats made from the Company’s heavy wool point blankets; Barnston’s features the iconic HBC stripes. These wrap coats, known for their warmth and versatility, were sold at trading posts and were utilized by European settlers and Indigenous Peoples alike.

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