The mystery surrounding a portrait of 18th-century English explorer Capt. George Vancouver now hanging in the Royal B.C. Museum appears to be revealing new truths.
The painting was donated to the museum in 1901 and held in storage — until Tuesday, when museum staff unveiled it as part of ongoing efforts to keep public exhibits fresh.
But little is known about who painted it or how it made its way to the museum, with museum history curator Lorne Hammond calling it “a portrait of mystery.”
When New Westminster resident Jim Wolf, a recognized historian of B.C. and author of several books, read of the mystery portrait, he decided to do some sleuthing of his own.
Beginning with copies of the Daily Colonist, a forerunner of the Times Colonist whose archives are available online through University of Victoria libraries, Wolf linked the portrait to its donor, a William Walter.
Wolf learned that Walter was agent-general for British Columbia in London and that the painting of Vancouver had been part of a collection of 28 historic portraits of British navigators gathered by a J. Walter, presumably William’s father.
The 28 paintings had been sent in 1888 to Melbourne, Australia, where they were billed as valuable original paintings, not copies. The exhibit was even offered for sale at 200 guineas each.
Part of the sale deal also included a caveat the original nature of the portraits could not be guaranteed.
Unfortunately for any sale, the exhibit attracted a man who recognized them as copies, Wolf learned. An article subsequently appeared in the Melbourne newspaper the Argus, also found online by the New Westminster man.
Wolf said his little bout of online research does not entirely clear up the painting’s mysteries.
For a start, little is known about William Walter or the J. Walter who put together the 1888 exhibit. Nobody knows who painted the Vancouver portrait, a copy of one in the British National Portrait Galley. And the whereabouts of the other paintings that were sent to Melbourne are unknown.
“There still needs to be some work done, but I just think it’s fun to be able to trace some of these storylines,” Wolf said. “And there is definitely a wonderful storyline behind all of this.”
Back at the Royal B.C. Museum, Hammond was thrilled to hear of Wolf’s research finds.
“Research always begets more questions and now, instead of a compass needle spinning all over the place, we have some directions,” Hammond said. “And it’s all courtesy of Mr. Wolf.”
He said it’s a good example of how far historical research has come beyond the old days of a lone curator sifting through dusty archives and catalogue cards.
“New digital archives are reinforming our collections,” he said. “It’s very cool.”
