Paper is creased and scratched in TR corner and has surface debris, apparently from the scratch. Pencil mark in TL area as well as pencil smudge in bottom center. There is also cockling of the surface.
Harry Spafford (b. 22 Oct 1888, d. 10 May 1978) was born in Holmfield, Manitoba. He married Isabella Hawking of Ninga in 1914 and the couple moved to Brandon in 1915 where they continued to reside until 1973. Harry worked as a locomotive fireman and then as an engineer with the Canadian Northern Railway (CN). While with CN, he was an active member of the Brotherhood of Local Engineers and Firemen No. 788 of Brandon. He served as an alderman in Brandon from 1928 to 1945. In 1932, Harry ran in the Manitoba by-election for Brandon as an Independent Labour candidate and lost to the Conservative member George Dinsdale. In 1952, Harry ran as a Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) member in the provincial election and lost to Conservative party representative Reg Lissaman. Harry Spafford passed away in Burnaby, BC, and is interred in the Ocean View Cemetery. (Source: see obituary in McG 4.1 File 66)
Scope and Content
Photograph shows Harry Spafford feeding Canada geese.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Harry Spafford feeding Canada geese near Vancouver 1976.
Mild cockling and creasing of image. Paper has fallen down from the mat on the left side, and as a result is showing the backing board in the TR corner.
Surface is all together dirty. Numerous smudges and other surface accretions and is especially bad in the top horizontal register, which has multiple large smudges. Canvas is loose in the TL corner due to storage (another painting was leaning on it). T
Residue of tape in area CB of glass. Frame has small abrasion marks on top arm.
Primary Support
paper
Secondary Support
mat, plexiglass, backing board; frame- wood
Inscriptions
Note attached to back: Cecil E. James came to Canada in 1914 from Manchester, England. He started studies in art at the University of Saskatchewan in 1928, and is now operating an art gallery in Saskatoon. He has painted Canadian scenes from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, but most of his work is of the Canadian Prairies. One could safely say that his paintings are in private collections in almost every country of the world. To name a few principals possessing a James painting: The Archbishop of Canterbury; His Excellency, Governor-General Roland Michener; John Diefenbaker, former Prime Minister of Canada; The Canadian Embassy in Berlin; Mr. H.W. Sturdy, British Government representative; Saskatchewan Wheat Pool; Saskatchewan House, London; Dairy Pool; Colonel Sanders of Kentucky; Pioneer Grain Co.; The Hon. Jean Lesage; Saskatchewan Power Corporation; Saskatchewan Arts Board.
Several splashes of brown paint across bottom half most probably inherent to image. TL corner of paper is creased. Top edge has some surface paper peeled off.