| Date: | not dated, probably by 1889 (see Note 1 below) |
| Medium: | oil on canvas, lined |
| Size: | 20 x 36 in (51 x 91 cm) |
| Inscription: | l/l "F Schafer", in the artist's characteristic block-letter hand |
| Verso: | said to be "Indians on Puget Sound / near Port Townsend / W.T." |
| Provenance: | Sold 16 March 1981 for $4125 by Sotheby's, Los Angeles, as lot 225 in sale 299. In private collection, Arizona; sold 3 August 2009 for $12,200 by Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles, as lot 6 in sale 17326; sold by Braarud Fine Art, LaConner, Washington to private collection, Seattle, Washington. |
| Reproductions: | Sotheby's 16 March 1981 sale catalog, Bonhams & Butterfields 3 August 2009 sale catalog, Braarud Fine Art photograph. |
| Citations: | Inventory of American Paintings… record 63000784 |
| Description: | Puget sound is on the lower right, with small waves lapping against a beach below a steep bank. On the beach are three pointed canoes, a campfire, and several figures. Atop the bank on the left three white tents are surrounded with figures. In the background, a conifer forest. Very light sky, with darker clounds to right. An Indian walks down the bank on a ramp from the left. (From a monochrome photograph.) |
| Note: | 1. The letters "W.T." at the end of the title inscription appear to be an abbreviation for "Washington Territory". The Washington Territory existed from 1853 until Washington became a state in November 1889, so it is likely that the painting was created by 1889, perhaps on one of Schafer's several visits to the area between 1885 and 1889. 2. The provenance given in Bonhams & Butterfields is ambiguous as to whether the Arizona collector acquired the painting at the March 1981 Sotheby's sale. 3. This painting is one of a series of Pacific northwest coast and Victoria, British Columbia, all of which depict the same tents and ocean-going dugout canoes. |
| In index(es): | Title list, Indian encampments as primary subjects, Pacific northwest coast and Victoria, British Columbia, expensive paintings |
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