1815 - 1872
Canadian
Indian Basket Seller
oil on canvas
signed and on verso titled on the gallery label
10 3/4 x 9 1/4 in, 27.3 x 23.5 cm
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD
Sold for: $34,250
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Ontario
LITERATURE
Marius Barbeau, Cornelius Krieghoff: Pioneer Painter of North America, 1934, page 148, listed pages 147 – 148
J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, 1999, a similar oil entitled The Indian Woman Basket Seller, dated circa 1850s, reproduced page 126
While living in Montreal in the 1850s, Cornelius Krieghoff observed the Indigenous moccasin and basket sellers from Caughnawaga who came to the city to ply their wares, and he often depicted them traveling through the surrounding landscape. First Nations subjects comprised about a third of his oeuvre, with subjects ranging from single figures to complex tableau scenes.
A work of this title is included in the 1934 listing of Krieghoff’s works by ethnographer Marius Barbeau, with this description:
Summertime. Figure occupies half the height of picture, facing right. Mounting an incline. Beaver hat, wide brim and blue ribbon. Under-robe, red; dark blue blanket. Seven baskets string next to skirt; larger one of bark held by pack strap across shoulder. Distant hills.
This painting reflects Krieghoff’s fine attention to detail, and Barbeau described the painting as “carefully and well painted.” The work includes a particularly fine vista, with Krieghoff staging the woman against a glowing sky. The subject reflects Krieghoff’s romantic view of Indigenous people as mysterious and self-sufficient, at ease with moving through the wild landscape alone. Paintings such as this were often acquired by local merchants as well as military men from Britain, to whom they were exotic reminders of their time in Canada.
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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