Montmorenci Falls, Canadian Winter Scene, Lithograph after Bouchette, circa 1832

The Falls of Montmorency in winter, a tinted lithograph with hand color, drawn by R. S. M. Bouchette and put on stone by Louis Haghe, published in London by Day and Haghe, lithographers to the King, circa 1832. The plate is lettered "Falls of Montmorenci. Winter." in the period spelling.

The view shows the falls a few miles below Quebec in the depth of winter, with the spray frozen into a great white cone of ice at the foot of the cataract. Rocky, snow covered cliffs close in on either side, with dark evergreens clinging to the slopes, and a house and a long fence line stand on the heights above the fall. A small wooden building and a pile of timber lie at the lower left, while sleighs, horses and small figures cross the frozen river in the foreground, and their size gives a sense of the height of the fall. Snowy hills fill the distance. Visiting the ice cone by sleigh was a favorite winter outing of the people of Quebec.

The lettering reads "On Stone by L. Haghe" at lower left, "Drawn by R.S.M. Bouchette Esq." at lower right, and "Day & Haghe Lithrs. to the King 17 Gate Street" beneath the title. Robert Shore Milnes Bouchette was the son of Joseph Bouchette, Surveyor General of Lower Canada, and the plate is probably from Joseph Bouchette's The British Dominions in North America (London, 1831 to 1832), which was illustrated with views lithographed by Day and Haghe.

The tint stone gives the snow and ice their soft gray blue tone, and the hand color finishes the sky, the trees and the landscape. The falls on the Montmorency River drop about 83 meters, roughly thirty meters more than Niagara, and they were among the most often drawn sights of Lower Canada. Louis Haghe was one of the leading lithographers in London, and his firm produced many of the finest topographical lithographs of the 1830s.

This winter view is a fine choice for a collection of early Canadian views and Quebec history.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.