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FREDERICK DUNBAR |
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According to the Atlas of 1906 they mention: The DUNBAR FAMILY “Were originally Scotch, & were driven out of Scotland in the last Stuart persecution and found refuge in the county of Limerick, Ire., and it was there that the later Alexander, Sr. was born, only to be driven to Templemore, Tipperary County. The late Alexander Dunbar Sr. m. Elizabeth Dolmage. Issue: John, Samuel, George, Robert, Alexander, Jr. Mrs. Robert Dunbar, Mrs. James Hill, Mrs. George Perkins; all b. in Ireland. In 1832 the late Alexander Dunbar and his family came to Canada and set in Eramosa, where he purchased 100 acres, lot 5, con. 6, and it was on this farm that he died in 1845…Alexander Jr., married Susan Jackson, and set in Washington (1885) where he was very successful. His sons Frederick (Alexander Turner) Dunbar and his brother Ulrich (Stonewall Jackson) Dunbar became sculptors of note, the former in Toronto, the later in Washington D.C. It might be noted that that one of the daughters of the late Alexander Dunbar Sr., was the mother of James J. Hill, the great railway magnate, of St. Paul, and Alexander S.D. Hill of Ermosa.” End of quote Page 25 County of Wellington Atlas Frederic’s father was a veterinarian and worked with horses in his time here in Canada. He moved to Washington D.C. around 1885. It is told he sold his special “Shoeing “process to the U.S. Army. His son Ulric Stonewall Jackson Dunbar moved to Washington about the same year and worked as a sculptor for the Smithsonian Institute as well as holding down his private studio. More about him and his brother training him in another biography. From the very first mention of his name you can sense that there is going to be something different if not challenging about this artist. The fact is he was one of the earliest Canadian Sculptor on my list. Everything was against him from the very beginning. His training had to come from as many sources available in the Philadelphia Fine Art Academy in early 1876 and then further in Europe One of his patrons was the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise living in Canada at that time. The letters of introduction to known people in England a sculptor Boehm who did a bust of Queen Victoria etc. and later in Italy where he met his wife a music teacher. Even with all this early training he never made a success of his craft. I talked to Dora Mavor Moore her father being a Professor in mathematics at the University of Toronto. It was through his help that a studio was set up where he could ply his craft. The result of that venture ended with several busts being done in plaster of “Cumberland,” which is now at University College finished in bronze. J. Ramsay Wright, the first Professor of Biology for the same University was finished but unsigned in both the plaster and the finished work. The Rev. Ryerson’s bust was done in marble and is at Victoria College along with Professor Nelles. The Adam Crooks was still in the plaster stage when I did my early research. From 1880 to 1905 I can follow his movements within Canada and the U.S.A. and his studio in Toronto. Theater lane was one address where he was ready to take on the world. His studies in Philadelphia in 1876 were long behind him. Professor Moore gave him money from time to time to help him while he lived in Casa Franka near Woodstock Ontario. The story of one loan ended up in controversy from Moore’s wife, “ who saw him riding home in a coach drunker then a skunk” and remarked about any future aid. The letters I viewed tell further of the long friendship the both of them held for each other despite the difficulties of the day. It has been noted that “Dunbar was a difficult man to deal with,” and my comment is, “they were difficult time for anyone in those days. In my search I found that the course in sculpting her proposed got turned down so a loss of income to say the least. The lose of the commissions were playing hard times for this artist as his competitors gained a first in the granting of statues around the Ontario Parliament building of Toronto. Not only did I look for more works by Dunbar but found them by chance. The marquis of Lorne bust in plaster was found when I went to Quebec City in the late 1960’s. The Archbishop was found in the Quebec Museum in a vault. The third work turns up in Phil. in the Archives of the University in bronze and unsigned. The Fine Art Academy in Phil. has him listed as attending classes in sculpting 1876. In an exhibition there three works are listed in the catalogue. A work about the Mayor of Detroit was found in photo record only. All this takes time and effort and you want to be accurate in your work. All it takes is a little hint and I am there searching out the truth. There are records too long to quote of other incidents that forced him to leave his native land and immigrate to Wilmington Delaware. In one of the Public Libraries in Wilmington Del. I found information that I am using to explain his last few years working on projects he never finished. Members of the family went looking for information on Frederick and Ulrich and kept coming up with my name. It was through them that I found many bas reliefs done by Ulrich I had never heard about. I have to thank Mr. McFadden for giving me the push I needed on this artist for it has been a long haul to get this far. The letters from Mrs. Reese d. James starting from 1954 – 1960 to establish her father as an artist in the world were a great help as were the pieces done in plaster and bronze given to the A.G.O. to start a Medallic Society of Canada. Of course this never happened. I gained information about the works in Burwash Hall of Victoria College. They were not in the chapel but in the janitor’s closet unprotected etc. I brought this to their attention and later found some changes. The bust of Samuel S. Nelles was in the same closet and removed after redecorating the chapel. Again they were unsigned and not dated. Not long after this discovery I went to the Ontario Parliament Building in the basement. It just happened that a dolly of busts were on their way to the inner storage bins. It was not long before they got photographed, identified, repaired and put on display. These were some of the 65 works once exhibited in the Provincial Museum which broke up in 1930. Many of them were in bad need of repair. Some were even destroyed. It was here I found the long lost bust of Queen Victoria done by F.A.T. Dunbar that caused so much of a fight to gain acceptance by the city. The works were done by Miss Mildred Peel (Lady Ross), Hamilton MacCarthy, Dunbar, and Walter s. Allward. And one other unknown. “Beth” took me to the cold room and I tried to photograph them with my inadequate camera I had at the time. There she stood in her Mutton coat laughing all the time while I tried to drape something behind and do the best I could. The Department paid me some funds for my work. It is now history in the Government collection of Ontario. Archived to death from the records they had and keep. The 1984 publication is a joy to see. With color plates and enough art to make it an art gallery not an Ontario Parliament building.
DUNBAR, ALEXANDER, PHYSICIAN 1740 14th N.W. Washington D.C.
In 1872 F.A.T. Dunbar is listed Chicago, Cincinnati in 1873 A medallion of Hon. Y.D. Hussey 1874 in Cleveland Ohio 1876 enrolled in Fine Art Academy Phil.
Two other Canadians were enrolled in the Phil Academy of fine Art Mildred Peel (later lady Ross) and her brother Paul Peel a prominate painter who died too early in his career. Both brother and sister were from London Ontario. The father was a stone carver.
By 1875 Dunbar is listed as doing Figure in Sandstone Public buildings Dr. Boardman” bust Infant, bas-relief Tempest statuette Psyche, medallion Gov. Hon. Van Zandt R.I. Bust of a gentleman” Penn. F.A.A. In 1877 “Bishop Fuller” model for marble carving The Penn. Un. owns a bronze of John Welsh (unsigned) 1878 A “Pan” “Ex. Gov. Hon. W.B. Lawrence”, bust “Wife of Mr. Pierre d’Orillard, bust “Polo Players” Father of Mr. Rogers”, bust “Young Lady” medallion Mr. Fairman Rogers & Friends” relief Penn. A.F.A. Exhibition Head of a Lady Late Evans Rogers Esq., bust stayed until June of 1879 R.C.A. Sir John A. Macdonald Adds medallions “Darwin” “Robert Mantell” “Sir W. Dawson” “Gladstone” “Thomas Carlyle” “C.A. Dana” “Tennyson’ So when F.A.T. Dunbar went to Europe he had letters of introduction from the Marquis of Lorne to Sir Joseph E. Boehm. As I mentioned he did the bust of Queen Victoria and members of Court. Letters also introduced Mr. Conolly who was an American living in Italy as I gather from the GLOBE & MAIL Toronto, Nov. 1880. Many American Sculptors took or would take the same route to Paris and Italy to study the craft of sculpting. A good many of them stay there most of their careers. Thorwaldson of Sweden came home to the acclamation of torchlight and great fan fare. He had spent most of his life doing Classical work. His Museum is in Sweden dating around the mid 1850’s. I purchased the slides from there and am impressed. Not so or Dunbar. As I mentioned there is a bust of F.W. Cumberland famous for his association with the Railway. The bust was supposed to be at the Allandale station in Ontario. (Since removed) The other copy in bronze is at U.C. Toronto. The former was unveiled in 1881 A second copy of Stewart I found in a private collection belonging to a relative of his family. The second studio at Theater Lane is advertised in the newspaper. It was here his brother got his training before he left for Washington D.C. in 1885. To hop back to the story about the second rejection of the bust he did of queen Victoria ended in a court case that cost him $300.00 which he could ill afford. He lost that commission too. This was close to his leaving Canada for Wilmington Delaware. By 1905 Dunbar moved to the U.S.A. and died in Wilmington in 1917. The 24 lessons in sculpting at the Education Department at the normal School went down for lack of pupils and funds. Miss Peel tried to get that job in teaching the classes. Three children fountain never got past the plaster stage in 1891 but the photos tell a better story. Address in Highland Park and Detroit Michigan turn up as places where Dunbar lived but nothing more. Mavor Moore had her portrait done by Dunbar when she was 8 years old. I never got to see the finished work but the papers were very interesting and shed light on my mystery man. Twenty-five dollars at Christmas was a lot to loan to a starving artist. Tracking to the town of Beachville turned up the Memorial to Leonard, in front of the court House. It is in bronze and a good job to. I never found out how much he got paid for it. The records are hard to find. Villa Franka is an unknown place on the map. After his return to Canada he exhibited works in the R.C.A., O.S. A. & the Montreal Art Association. Unfinished busts of Bishop fuller, John Beverly Robinson, Sir John A. Macdonald and Late George Brown”. I want to thank Rita Winkur, Research Assistant, and Fine Art Department for the Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave. who assisted me in finding the bust of Mayor Pingree. It was cast in plaster and displayed in a jewelry shop in Detroit Nov. 11, 1895 it reads. THE DETROIT JOURNAL Monday November 11 1895 “A plaster bust of Hon. Hazen S. Pingree, Mayor of Detroit modeled by Fred. A.T. Dunbar and his brother (Ulrich) who is also his pupil is now on exhibition in the windows of Wright, Kay & co. This bust is heroic size and represents the Honorable Mayor just as he is in his everyday working clothes. His head is held erect and his eyes are looking directly and fearlessly to the front. His collar, one turned down at the corners is tied with a neglise tie in the form of a careless knot. The head is well modeled and perfectly proportioned and the features are strong and characteristic. The strongest likeness is seen when the statue is viewed from the front.
There is strong belief that this work was in competition for the memorial that is now in Detroit done by another artist Rudolph Schwartz presented in 1903 in west Grand Circus Park.” End of article. In Holly Oake Delaware Dunbar turns up and remain there until the end of his life. Any commission planned did not come to fruition. A bust in a church at the corner of King Street Saint James has a bust of dean Grasset and the Niagara Falls the bust of Col Gzowski in bronze at the entrance to their offices. It was once in the grounds of the park. You can see his work scattered around and no one has ever attempted to track them down. There were other possible or impossible commissions that never came and I will not speculate on them now. I have given you enough to know more about this man then anyone else knows. I cared and so did a few other people. Perhaps more will learn about our history through my work over 40 years in the making. There is one last bronze of Newsboy and dog. It is supposed to be in the middle of the Detroit River on Belle Island. I do not know if it is there now or not. The press clipping is very dark and hard to see. Johnny Canuck is another unfinished work that Ulric junior posed. |
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Of all the Canadian Sculptors I have attempted to research, none have been more difficult to do then F.A.T. Dunbar who was born in Guelph, Ontario in 1849. I learned from the atlas of that township that the family came from Ireland and settled in the Guelph area. I learned also a lot of the founding of this territory when John Galt started with the city development as long ago as 1828-32. |
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Frederick Alexander Turner Dunbar 1849 - 1921
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