Welcome to the second week of Advent! This week’s gift guide includes some charming paintings by Arvid Aae and Canadian artists Mildred Valley Thornton and Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith, among a wonderful selection of unique holiday gift ideas.

We have finished decorating the gallery with our Canadian Masterpieces and Christmas Calendar Exhibition. We invite you to visit through December 21 and savour home-made treats with mulled cider glögg, and do not forget to pick up your complimentary package of greeting cards.

Flora Danica

In 1790 the Danish Crown Prince Frederik ordered a dinner set as a gift for Russian Empress Catherine II. The set was to be hand painted, decorated with exact copies of the plates of Flora Danica, a comprehensive botanical encyclopedia containing pictures of all the wild plants native to Denmark in the period from 1761-1883. However Catherine died in 1796 and never received the gift. The set is considered a national treasure and one of the world’s most prestigious and luxurious porcelain collections. It is still in use for state occasions and is currently on display at Christiansborg Palace, Amalienborg Palace and Rosenborg Castle. Copies of the set are still sold by Royal Copenhagen Porcelain, maintaining the same standards centuries later.

*Very fine Victorian coromandel wood fitted ladies travelling vanity case, London 1857, maker Thomas Whitehouse*. *Size in inches: 7 ½ h x 13 ¼ w x 9 ¾ d. M20514*

Bound and double strung in brass, this fine Victorian traveling vanity has campaign carry-handles, escutcheon and lock complete with key. The lid opens to reveal a fitted interior with silver hinges and corner mounts, the fitted interior complete with twelve sterling silver mounted jars and bottles, all with clear glass bodies with star cut bases, and six utensils. The back row includes three square scent bottles and two round containers. The pull-out tray is fitted with two small scent bottles and five rectangular storage containers, flanked by two rectangular spaces with velvet lids containing 6 utensils (including scent bottle corkscrew, hinged knife, tweezers, nail file and bodkin all with mother of pearl handles, and hinged fruit knife with horn handle). The interior lid has a push button release to reveal a leather-bound removable mirror, behind which is a secret letter compartment. A push button at the back releases a secret jewellery drawer below, fitted with a writing pad opening to a fitted jewellery compartment. The jar and bottle lids are fully marked except for the scent bottles. Complete with key.

Bust Portrait of a Man, oil on panel, unsigned, 19th century copy of Rembrandt School, with label on reverse "N P Wentworth Brady Esq/Bust Portrait of a Man/Rembrandt/June 1912 LB.59". Size in inches: 10.62 h x 8.12 w. A20629

*French Belle Époque gilt bronze ormolu drapery tiebacks ranging in size and decoration, some with oxidation and discolouration. French, late 19th Century. M21110*

Curtain tie-backs, or curtain holders, have been used for centuries to pull drapes away from the window to allow more light to pass through. Decorative window treatments often used to make a design statement, these structured tie-back consist of a curved decoration attached to the wall, into which the curtain would be pulled to hold it in position. They are often ornately crafted in ormolu, the intricate gilding decorated with acanthus leaves, asymmetrical scrollwork and rocailles.

*Brass octagonal chestnut roaster with long handle and perforated hinged lid, English 18th century. Size in inches: 20 h x 4 ¾ w x 2 d. G20404*

Arvid Aae (Danish 1877-1913)

Arvid Aae is known for his landscapes, portraits and genre paintings, many of children. He was born in Jonhannishus, Sweden but moved to Denmark as a young boy where he became a citizen in 1903. He was educated as a painter and draughtsman at Gustaf Vermehren’s Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, where he graduated in 1895, and at the Danish Royal Academy where he graduated in 1901. In 1905 he married fellow artist Olga Herriet Rasmussen and the same year painted an altarpiece for the Church in Brande. He travelled through Paris and Italy on a scholarship from the Academy in 1905-6 where he painted landscapes en plein air, including several from Tuscany. His etching of a mother with child was exhibited in Paris in 1906. He exhibited at Charlottenborg between 1910 and 1914 and is represented in Kolding Museum as well as private collections. Arvid Aae died in 1913 at the young age of 36 on Jutland in Denmark.

*‘Portrait of a Little Girl Sewing’, oil on canvas, signed lower right “Arvid Aae”. Size in inches: 27 ½ h x 20 ¾ w. J20935*

Large 18th Century Swedish silver beaker, with gilt interior and parcel gilt decoration to exterior rim and base, fully marked with city mark for Eskiltuna, maker L. Oberg, date letter P, engraved with initials "E.L.S/M.N.D", weight 9.24 oz troy. Size: 7 h x 5 ¾ w x 5 ½ d in. C21142

*Set of sterling silver flatware in Rattail pattern, hallmarked for London 1977, maker A.C. & Sons Ltd., fish forks and knives hallmarked for Sheffield 1913 maker GH, 124 pieces. J21140*

*Russian Fabergé silver four-piece tea and coffee set, Moscow 1899-1908, comprising a teapot, coffee pot, two-handled sugar bowl and a milk jug. C21181*

Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith (Canadian 1846-1923)

Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith, born in London in 1846, was the son of a miniature painter and received early artistic training from his father, and later completed classical studies at the South Kensington School of Art, and the Academie Colarossi in Paris. He immigrated to Montreal in 1867, working in James Inglis' photography studio and later as a freelance artist and art teacher in Ontario. Bell-Smith was a founding member of the Society of Canadian Artists and the Ontario Society of Artists, and he became an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1880. Known for his depiction of Canada's rugged landscape, he was among the first artists to utilize the Railway Artists program to document the construction of the railroad. His 1887 trip through the Rockies marked a shift to capturing the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, particularly in areas like Banff and the Selkirk Mountains. Bell-Smith continued to travel across Canada and internationally, gaining recognition for his landscape and historical paintings, solidifying his place as a prominent Canadian artist.

‘View of Lake O'Hara, BC’, watercolour, signed and dated lower right "F.M. Bell-Smith 06". This view of Lake O'Hara is from Sargent's Point, Yoho National Park, named after John Singer Sargent who painted there in 1916. Size in inches: 11 ¾ h x 9 w (with frame 19 ¼ h x 16 w in). ZJ20995

Mildred Valley Thornton (Canadian 1890-1967)

This watercolour is part of the collection of Phil Nuytten (1841-2023). Nuytten, author of The Totem Carvers describing the life of Ellen Neel and her family, had an interest in Thornton’s work due to the connection between the two artists who had much in common. Both Thornton and Neel were passionate about advocating for women artists and preserving the traditional arts of the aboriginal people. Many works in the Exhibition are illustrated in The Life and Art of Mildred Valley Thornton, the comprehensive biography published in 2011 by Sheryl Salloum as part of The Unheralded Artists of BC series.

Famous for her portraits of the First Nations people of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Mildred Valley Thornton is also known for her landscapes, mythological and historical subjects in oil and watercolour. Thornton traveled extensively often to remote areas difficult to access in an attempt to capture on canvas the vanishing culture of the indigenous communities, documenting community life including potlatch, traditions, rituals, whaling, and handiwork. Her loosely worked and vibrant paintings of the B.C. outdoors and mountains showed her love of the Canadian landscape, first sketched in watercolour and often reworked in a larger format in oil or watercolour in her studio.

*‘Coastal View of Clouds Over Snow Covered Mountains’, watercolour, signed lower right “MV Thornton”, with a biography glued to verso.Size in inches: 7 ½ h x 9 ½ w. J20800*

Phil Nutten - Kah-Sah-Las (Canadian 1941-2023)

Often referred to as a “Renaissance man”, Phil Nuytten was a pioneer in many fields. Growing up in Vancouver’s West side, Phil developed an interest in Northwest Coast art from studying the totem poles in Stanley Park and visiting the Vancouver Museum. At the age of 11 he learned of his Aboriginal heritage on his father’s side, which fueled his interest in studying and learning the fundamentals of Northwest Coast carving. He contacted noted Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw carver Ellen Neel, who agreed to give Phil lessons alongside her own children. He subsequently met other artists such as Mungo Martin and Amos Dawson, who would both have a profound influence on his life. Phil was dedicated to the preservation of Northwest Coast culture and produced replicas of many early pieces, often working from early drawings and carvings. He was formally adopted by the Dawson family, who were Mamalilikulla from Village Island, and was given his first name Tlax’wsam (pronounced “Tlock-sum”), meaning red snapper. In 1982 Phil published the seminal book on master carvers Charlie James, Ellen Neel and Mungo Martin Neel titled The Totem Carvers. Phil was a talented artist in many media including drawing and painting, wood carving, and engraving. His vast collection includes not only impressive and rare examples of Charlie James, Ellen Neel and Mungo Martin works, but also early 19th century to modern day works by artists including Robert Davidson, Beau Dick, John Livingston, Doug Cranmer, Don Smith (Lelooska), Bill Reid, Joe and Willie Seaweed, Dorothy Grant, Henry Hunt, and others.