After Bouchette, Montmorenci Falls, 1832, Lithograph

Details

Description

This hand coloured tinted lithograph of the Falls of Montmorency in winter is an original antique Canadian winter scene, drawn … Read more This hand coloured tinted lithograph of the Falls of Montmorency in winter is an original antique Canadian winter scene, drawn by R.S.M. Bouchette and put on stone by Louis Haghe, published in London by Day and Haghe circa 1832. The plate is lettered "Falls of Montmorenci. Winter.", using the spelling of the period. The view shows the famous falls a few miles below Quebec at the height of the Canadian winter, when spray from the cataract freezes into a great cone of ice at its foot. Sleighs and small figures move across the frozen river in the foreground, and the scale of the people against the white column of the fall gives a strong sense of the landscape. Visiting the ice cone by sleigh was a favourite winter outing for the garrison and townspeople of Quebec, and this plate records that custom with real charm. The drawing is lettered as the work of R.S.M. Bouchette, Robert Shore Milnes Bouchette, son of the Surveyor General of Lower Canada, Joseph Bouchette. The lithograph is believed to come from Joseph Bouchette's The British Dominions in North America, published in London in 1831 and 1832, a major topographical and statistical account of the Canadian provinces illustrated with views lithographed by Day and Haghe. Louis Haghe was among the finest lithographers of his generation, and the firm styled itself Lithographers to the King, which places the printing in the reign of William the Fourth. The print is a lithograph with a tint stone, finished in hand colour, and it is an early and scarce image of the Falls of Montmorency in winter. It would suit a collection of Canadiana, a study, or a room devoted to winter scenes, and it hangs well with other views of Quebec and the Saint Lawrence. The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a small spot in the margin and soft creasing at one corner; the image is clean and bright. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less