Metlakatla, British Columbia

Provenance:
Private Collection, United Kingdom
Notes:
It is not known what brought Lieutenant Charles S. Williams to the West Coast and ultimately to Metlakatla, a Tsimshian village near Prince Rupert, but in 1868, when this work was produced, British Columbia was still a British colony (until it joined the Dominion of Canada in 1871) and the British Royal Navy had a base in Esquimalt, adjacent to Victoria. Military officers such as Williams were trained in watercolour technique, thus he painted in the English style. These officers produced artworks as personal records of the Canadian landscape and for military reports or used them as a basis for commercial reproductions such as prints or engravings in books. Metlakatla, British Columbia is a fascinating historical record of this coastal settlement, with details such as the First Nations canoe in the foreground and the schooner anchored offshore. The presence of the large church alongside the habitations onshore shows the juxtaposition of First Nations people and the missionaries who established a base there. Williams exhibits a fine command of the medium, and his composition is a vital record of this time of change on the West Coast.