
Rhyanon Demery
Head of Sale
Sold for £4,080 inc. premium
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Provenance
Lady Emily Charlotte Bathurst (1798-1877); her son General Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (1825-1895); by descent in the Ponsonby family; private collection, UK.
Born into an illustrious military family, his father a Colonel and three brothers reaching the rank of General, Napier entered the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth Dockyard on 5 May 1803, and on 20 September 1806 joined the 74-gun Spencer, as a first-class volunteer. In 1810, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant and finally Captain in 1830.
The present work depicts an Inuit encampment in eastern Canada. Napier was posted in the North Sea and North America from 1812-13. The following year, in 1814, he was promoted to Commander and took up the role of protecting merchant vessels in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Later, in 1821-23, he was positioned in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Given Napier's extensive service in eastern Canada and North America, the scene depicted is likely to have been observed first-hand. This is further confirmed by the level detail shown in the work, ranging from the subjects' clothing to the hide finish on the end of the canoe to the right of the scene.
Please note that we believe the present work depicts a Micmac camp and not an Inuit encampment as stated in the footnote for this lot. The hut and the tip of the canoe visible on the right hand side identify the scene as being from the area that Napier was stationed - Nova Scotia. Traditional homelands of the Micmac.