Description
In the lower left corner, an elaborate cartouche features the provincial seal topped by a bear and flanked by a moose and a deer on their hind legs over the Latin motto, a decorative design incorporating fleurs-de-lis, and a mileage scale beneath. The seals of five universities are pictured in the lower right corner, and emblems of the Canadian Navy, Army and Air Force decorate the upper left corner. There is a decorative compass rose upper right, above a box listing “Some Facts About Ontario.” The map is enclosed within a gold and red geometric border.
Thomas Wesley (T.W.) McLean was a Canadian painter and illustrator. While still in his teens he started working for Grip, a Toronto design firm, alongside many major Canadian artists some of who went on to form the renowned Group of Seven. He is credited with introducing Group of Seven founder Tom Thomson to Algonquin Park in northern Ontario, which became an important location in the development of that influential group of Canadian painters. McLean was also a charter member of the Arts & Letters Club. In 1912 he moved to Winnipeg to teach, and was a founding member of the Manitoba Society of Artists. He returned to Ontario in 1927. During the 1930s, he exhibited in Toronto at the Robert Simpson Galleries, and with the Royal Canadian Academy and the Ontario Society of Artists. McLean also produced maps and illustrations for books and assisted C.W. Jefferys in the production of the The Picture Gallery of Canadian History, published in three volumes between 1942 and 1950.
Alexander Scott Carter was an artist, architect, draftsman and delineator active in Toronto, Canada, from 1912 until after 1960. Born in England, he attended Bournemouth School of Art and worked in architectural firms in Bournemouth and London, England, from 1899 to 1912. Meanwhile he studied art and architecture at the Royal Academy Schools, and jointed the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1911. He emigrated to Toronto in 1912. He designed buildings, works of art and architectural decorations for Toronto’s leading families, St. Thomas Anglican Church, corporate buildings, colleges and universities. He was elected as an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1922 and made a full Academician in 1927 and Senior Academician in 1951. He was also a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. A large collection of drawings and sketches for over 80 projects that Carter designed between 1920 and 1960 is in the archives of the University of Toronto.
Full publication information: “Drawn by T. W. McLean • A. Scott Carter • 1950. Printed and published by Baptist Johnson, Printer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, Toronto, Canada. – and issued by the Ontario Department of Travel and Publicity.”
Condition: Generally very good, recently professionally cleaned, deacidified, and backed on archival paper with only minor remaining toning and wear.
References:
“Carter, Alexander Scott.” Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950. http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/1606 (6 May 2019).
“Thomas Wesley McLean; ‘Blue Hills.'” Michael Thomas Art, Antiques & Furnishings Blog. 30 January 2014. http://mtantiques.blogspot.com/2014/01/thomas-wesley-mclean-blue-hills.html (6 May 2019).
