Lot 149: GEORGE THEODORE BERTHON, O.S.A., R.C.A., COLONEL JEREMIAH WILKES DEWSON, oil on canvas, 16 1/4 ins x 13 1/4 ins; 40.6 cms x 33.1 cms

GEORGE THEODORE BERTHON, O.S.A., R.C.A.COLONEL JEREMIAH WILKES DEWSON, oil on canvas; framed as an oval 16 1/4 ins x 13 1/4 ins; 40.6 cms x 33.1 cms Provenance: Col. George Taylor Denison II, Toronto.Col. George Taylor Denison III, Toronto.Mrs. C. Langmuir, (daughter of Col. George Taylor Denison III), Toronto.Sotheby & Co. (Canada) Ltd., auction, Toronto, 13th-14th May, 1974, lot 65.Private Collection, Toronto.Literature: William Colgate, Canadian Art, Its Origin and Development, Toronto, 1967, pages 13-17, for an extensive account of Berthon's work.Jerimiah Wilkes Dewson (1794-1852) was born at Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. At the age of seventeen he received the commission of lieutenant in the Staffordshire Local Militia and served with that corps for three years when he obtained an Ensigncy in His Majesty's 35th Regt. of Foot. Dewson served throughout the Waterloo campaign in the 35th Regt. and shortly after was sent to Canada and stationed at the Old Fort, York, Upper Canada. It was during this residence that Dewson's daughter married Col. George Taylor Denison II. After retiring from the army in 1839 Col Dewson bought a farm near Bond Head, W. Gwillumbury, Upper Canada and lived there until his death in 1852.He played an active part in the Rebellion of 1837 during which time he was gazetted major of an inforporated gegiment and afterwards elected by the Loyalists to the rank of Colonel of the Simcoe Militia.This portrait of Col. Dewson by Berthon was commissioned by Col. G.T. Denison II and was painted for his son Col. G.T. Denison III from a miniature executed in Brussels during the Waterloo campaign when Ensign Dewson was nineteen years old.Col. Dewson was buried, according to his wishes, in the cemetery beside the Church of England church (near Bond Head), Tecumseth, West Gwillumbury, Simcoe County, Ontario. A copy of the tombstone inscription and extracts from the diary of Col George T. Denison II regarding the death and funeral of Col. Dewson are available to the purchaser of this lot.Colgate notes that Berthon "was entrused with commissions by several notable military officers living in Toronto, among them...Lieutenant-Colonels R.L. Denison and George T. Denison." Berthon is recorded as painting other portraits from miniatures, including "that of Sir Isaac Brock, probably copied from a miniature" (Canadian Art, 1967, pages 13-16).In the foreward to the Catalogue of the Toronto Centennial Historical Exhibition (A.G.T., 1934) A.H. Robson stated that Berthon's portraits "represent our early pioneers and hold a place of importance in the history of our development."