1 The Canadian National Exhibition was formally established in 1879 as an annual exhibition and fair in Toronto, Ontario.1 It focused on industry and agriculture, combining displays of the latest household goods and foodstuffs by manufacturers and retailers with agricultural products, contests, demonstrations, horticulture, athletic events, concerts, popular entertainment, and a midway with sideshows. Although between 1900 and 1940 it lasted for only two weeks, running from late August to early September, it ranked as a major annual attraction (Fig. 1). Popular theme parks were then virtually unknown, and fewer people enjoyed access to automobiles or travel.

2 After World War II, the "Ex," as it was affectionately called by Torontonians, still retained its importance as a place for displaying the latest model automobiles and home appliances, cooking shows by media personalities, contests, and theme days. By the late 1950s, its influence on popular culture was being increasingly eroded by television, glossy magazines, and other vehicles of merchandising. Even though five of its original buildings dating from 1905 to 1912 have been carefully preserved as a virtually unique survival of early twentieth-century exposition architecture, today the CNE is best known for its midway and bandstand shows, and for events that use its facilities and 200-acre site at other times of the year, like the Royal Winter Fair and the One of a Kind Craft Fair. But that was not always the case.

3 A small but important aspect of the Canadian National Exhibition before 1940 was the formal exhibition of art, graphic art, applied art and photography. Shows of art and crafts were a part of many of the large regional fairs that began to be held in Canada in the mid-1800s. These fairs tended to focus on agriculture, where much of the commerce and wealth was concentrated at the time. The art at the fairs was intended to elevate the tone of the event and to enhance its cultural value.

4 Art could also serve as a popular attraction. For example, a poster for the 1890 CNE advertises the exclusive display of "... the celebrated $100,000 Painting by the great Russian Artist Makoffsky, entitled: The Preparation of the Bride," which cost over $2 000 to insure.2 By 1900, the art section had developed into a display of largely traditional pictures by leading members of the Royal Canadian Academy. Nearly all exhibits were for sale. Specially published catalogues from the period included illustrations of some of the paintings and small photographs of many of the artists.

5 In 1902, a permanent Art Gallery in the popular Beaux Arts style, complete with a classical temple facade, had been erected on the CNE grounds. The first Gallery proved too small, and ". . . a fire-proof Art Gallery, the most complete of its kind on the Continent of America" was built in similar style for the 1905 CNE.3 It was ". . .128 by 32 feet [39 by 10 metres], constructed in quadrangular form."4 Beginning in 1909, the original Art Gallery became a venue for displaying graphic art, photography and applied art. These galleries were a significant facility in the context of the times. The Art Gallery of Toronto (now Ontario) and the Royal Ontario Museum (opened in 1913) did not exist, and few Canadian cities supported an art gallery of greater size.

6 Though held for only two weeks, by World War I the annual art shows had grown to include a loan exhibition of important foreign work as well as pictures by established Canadian artists. For example, in 1913, German paintings were featured and, as a prelude of what was to become the Applied Art section, a display of porcelain from the Royal Berlin Factory. The porcelain included "The Wedding Procession," a series of figurines to form a table centrepiece, designed by the sculptor Adolf Amberg (born 1874) for the wedding of the German Crown Prince in 1905. These figures had attracted considerable interest at the Berlin art exhibition of 1911 and are still considered masterpieces of early twentieth-century design and ceramic sculpture.5 Perhaps it was a reflection of the international aspirations of the CNE art commissioners radier than the politics of the times that "The [Art] Committee approved of an Austrian Art Exhibit for 1914, the pictures to be selected by Mr. Dibdin."6 During World War I the art shows continued on a reduced scale.

7 The minutes from the meetings of the Department of Fine Art, held once or at most twice a year, are brief, mostly one page type-written, and begin in 1913. They seem to be the only primary documentation surviving for the art shows in the CNE Archives. Nonetheless, they are indicative of key decisions and important trends. In the minutes of 8 April 1918, "It was resolved. . . That Mr. Jefferys and the Secretary try and arrange for a modern exhibit of applied art, and report the same to a future meeting of the Art Commission."7 Charles William Jefferys (1869-1951) was a well-known illustrator and historical artist. The painter Frederick Stanley Haines (1879-1960), who served as secretary, was then an Associate [Member] of the Royal Canadian Academy ("ARCA") and a member of the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA). Ultimately, he served as President of the OSA and became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy.

8 Judging from the list of the commissioners and the minutes, Haines continued to play a key role in the art and applied art exhibitions right up to 1939. The minutes around 1930 refer to him variously as the "Art Commissioner," the "Art Director" and the "Director" of the Art Gallery, and there were unsuccessful attempts at gaining his membership in the Association of Curators of Art Galleries (U.S.A.) in the hopes that this would ensure access to a wider range of important U.S. and foreign loan exhibitions.8 Frederick Haines likely played an essential role in negotiating the loan of modern applied art. A note in the minutes for 26 March 1924 states that "Mr. Haines advised that he had written to a number of craftsmen in England [sic] in regard to art craft and jewellery."9 He also travelled to Denmark to select the paintings and ceramics, silver, glass and metalwork that were the highlight of the 1929 Applied Art display.10

9 Another figure whose contribution to the art exhibitions appears to have been considerable was Mr Edward Rimbault Dibdin (1853-1941), who, between 1904 and 1918, was the second Curator of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Born in Edinburgh, Dibdin was an art critic, writer and promoter of Liverpool artists who served as President of the Museums Association, 1914-1918.11 E. Rimbault Dibdin was European Representative for the Art Commission of the CNE from 1910 to 1914, again in 1918 and from 1922 to 1934.12 As described in the minutes, Mr Dibdin's duties seem to have been primarily finding, selecting and arranging for the shipment of suitable paintings and occasionally sculpture, either as individual pieces or complete exhibitions.13

10 However, he also appears to have been instrumental in organizing the applied arts. Dibdin's letter of 16 December 1911 to Dr J. Orlando Orr (1861-1917), manager of the CNE, reports that he had been corresponding with his cousin, Miss Sara B. Guthrie, about the idea of providing a small exhibit of "decorative work" and requests Orr's guidance on the number and type of pieces that would be desirable.14 After repeated efforts, in 1922, once the "modern exhibit of applied art"15 became a more or less regular feature in the smaller CNE Art Gallery, it usually included work by English potters and metalworkers, a number of whom are recognized today as prominent figures in English applied arts between the wars. Among the recurring exhibits was tooled metal by Sara B. Dibdin, who became her cousin's second wife sometime between 1911 and 1922.

11 The first "modern exhibit of applied art" in 1922 coincided with the publication of a new and larger catalogue that described all of the works and, except for 1923, stated the prices. The entire contents of both Art Galleries were listed in sequentially numbered entries, grouped by medium, with individual artists appearing in alphabetical order: oil paintings, occasionally sculpture, graphic art and watercolours, applied art, and in a separate section, The Toronto Salon of Photography. The Salon was organized by the Toronto Camera Club and included submissions from all over the world. A few key pictures and photographs were occasionally illustrated. Between 1922 and 1939 the catalogues maintained the same format with a bold woodblock cover in strong monochrome colour showing Canadian or Group of Seven themes. The majority were designed by the illustrator Thoreau Macdonald (1901-1989).

12 In most years, the selection of art followed the formula of Canadian paintings, watercolours and graphic art; English paintings, watercolours and graphic art (often with a section devoted to small works from the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers); and English applied art, sometimes with a separate smaller selection of Canadian pieces. Perhaps because of the extra work involved and the strong British interests of the Canadian audience of the time, British and Canadian art always formed the core of the exhibitions, with varying additions of foreign paintings, graphics and applied art. These additions included: Spanish art in 1922; Swedish in 1923; American in 1924; contemporary Russian art and applied art in 1925; American and Italian art in 1926; Belgian and French paintings in 1927; Spanish paintings and Mexican applied art in 1928; art and 1156 pieces of applied art from Denmark and American mural sketches in 1929; an all-Canadian show in 1930; Scottish paintings, selected Old Master paintings and stained glass in 1931; American paintings in 1933; French art and applied arts in 1937; and Surrealist art and design drawings for the theatre in 1938. Although this study concentrates on a single notable artisan in the Applied Art section, the art and photography sections as documented by the catalogues offer considerable information that could be explored profitably by art historians and scholars.

13 It is difficult to gauge the success of the Art and Applied Art exhibitions at the Canadian National Exhibition. The sales recorded were often modest. Few pieces, other than foreign art, seem to have been sold on commission, and duty was payable on all imports. In the minutes for 13 January 1928, it is recorded that

14 Perhaps these instructions contributed to the success of the following year documented in the minutes, where "The Commissioner reported 173 sales in the 1928 Exhibition, amounting to $8,523.15. Also that the Art Galleries, during the fourteen days of the Exhibition period, were visited by 110,000 people."17 This is arguably the largest attendance for any art event in Canada prior to 1950, and one that was never exceeded by the Art Galleries at the CNE.

15 Among the English artisans who displayed with the greatest consistency at the CNE was the silversmith Omar Ramsden (1873-1939). Ramsden followed the Arts and Crafts tradition, deriving particular inspiration from English Medieval and Tudor silver. Between 1898 and 1918, with his partner Alwyn Charles Ellison Carr (1872-1940), he established a reputation for hand-wrought silver of Arts and Crafts design and attracted commissions from corporations, churches, professional and military organizations, and individuals who wanted specially designed or presentation pieces.

16 Ramsden and Carr dissolved their partnership after World War I. Both continued to work silver and sometimes other metals in a similar, though often more simplified, Arts and Crafts style, with hand-beaten finishes, occasionally enhanced by enamel panels or semi-precious stones. Ramsden's reputation as a key figure in twentieth-century design and silversmithing continues to grow.18 Although commercially manufactured English silver may have been available elsewhere at the CNE, Omar Ramsden is the only silversmith who consistentiy showed in the Art Galleries. From 1922 to 1927, and then in 1929, 1931, and 1934, he displayed a total of 141 pieces, everything from gold cuff links in 1923 to a large vase with a cover surmounted by St George in 1926. Most of the work displayed was less expensive than his. His lowest and highest priced pieces were shown in 1931: no. 1419, a "Fruit Dish" costing $380 and no. 1439, a "Butter Spreader" costing $4.75.

17 Omar Ramsden is unique among the exhibitors of applied art because many of his objects can be identified from archival material, and actual pieces are gradually being located. Nineteen ledgers from his workshop are preserved in the Library of Goldsmiths' Hall in London, England. Most pages show outline drawings of models and include notes by Ramsden himself recording cost, production, and sales. These ledgers were generously donated by the silversmith Leslie Durbin, who served his apprenticeship in the Ramsden workshop (1929-1936) and continued to work there until 1939.

18 Considering that Omar Ramsden probably never employed more than ten craftsmen in his workshop, he was exceptionally successful at securing prestigious commissions and in publicizing his work. His personal philosophy of making silver better known to the public is suggested in a slide-illustrated lecture, "Some Aspects of Modern Silverware," that he delivered at Goldsmiths' Hall on 8 March 1928.19 The typed text of the lecture not only reveals his personal ideal of design but provides a constructive critique of contemporary silver design and the way in which silver was being marketed in England at the time. In his concluding remarks, he urged that ". . . in order to perpetuate this age in the Renaissance of the silversmith's art, it will be necessary to hold exhibitions on a large and extensive scale."20

19 Ramsden appears to have been more than willing to undertake commissions from the British colonies and to assume the risk of displaying his wares in far away places in the hopes of sales and potential clients. Records exist of his commissions for the cathedrals in Colombo, Sri Lanka; Bermuda; Detroit, Michigan; and Cairo, Egypt, as well as orders from Australia and New Zealand and sales through a shop in Detroit.21 As the largest annual fair in the world, the Canadian National Exhibition opened a potentially valuable market. In 1929, when Danish Applied Art constituted the featured exhibit, Ramsden still managed to show four pieces as a member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers.

20 Since photographic documentation for the Applied Art exhibitions does not appear to have survived, the ledgers at Goldsmiths' Hall offer the most profitable opportunity for investigating the range of pieces shown by Omar Ramsden at the ONE. Models in these unnumbered ledgers are organized more or less by forms that are chronologically and consecutively numbered, though those of the late 1930s include a wider range of pieces. For instance, the first volume is titled crudely in pen on the front "1 -150 Cups & Bowls." Where the entry in the Art Catalogue of the CNE includes a pattern name, title or some distinctive wording, it is often possible to associate the object shown with a specific model named and illustrated by a line diagram in the ledgers. Ramsden's notations on the ledger page provide evidence of the original production date, when further versions were made, whether one was made "for stock," the price(s) in code, and other details that can confirm it as one available for showing at the CNE.

21 The price can be especially useful confirmation. Ramsden liked to state his retail prices in guineas, a sterling coin worth one shilling more than a pound. Though no longer used, guineas had been a standard unit for pricing art and luxuries since the 1700s. In the 1920s and 1930s, an English guinea seems to have been worth about $8 Canadian. Interestingly, many entries in the CNE Art Catalogues followed wording that was distinctive to Omar Ramsden. For example, fine surface finishing of silver with tools, which is commonly referred to as "chasing," is described with Ramsden's term as "chiselled." "Grape fruit" is also a rendering found in the Ramsden ledgers. His silver is described as "Beaten," "Hand-Beaten," and "Wrought" to emphasize that the pieces were handmade in the best Arts and Crafts tradition.

22 Over forty of the 141 pieces shown by Ramsden can be identified with some certainty from his shop ledgers. Entries for these taken from the Art Catalogues are listed below under consecutive years followed by abbreviated quotations from the ledgers and comments. Dollar signs are inserted for entries from 1922 to 1929. Ramsden's prices have been converted from his personal code:

23 The British Royal Family enjoyed great popularity with the Canadian public between the wars. In 1927, Edward, Prince of Wales, and his brother George, the Duke of York (later George VI), visited Canada and opened The Princes' Gates, a commanding neoclassical triumphal arch at the eastern entrance to the CNE grounds. Two examples of 'Tudor Rose' bowls by Ramsden with 1929 hallmarks were sold recently in separate auctions in Toronto and apparently came from local estates22 (Fig. 7). Perhaps they were acquired as a result of Ramsden's display at the CNE. A third one made in 1934 descended in the family of a Toronto man who regularly visited the Applied Art exhibitions and made purchases from the artisans displaying there.23

24 The range and variety of silver exhibited by Omar Ramsden at the Canadian National Exhibition constitutes one of the most significant efforts of an English craftsman to offer wares to the Canadian market. Documenting the success of his efforts through sales to Canadians will be a long and slow process. A silver bowl by Ramsden made for Waldo W. Skinner, Esq., K.C. of Montreal, as a Christmas gift for his wife Loulou in 1931, is in the collection of David Campbell in Toronto.24 The man who bought the "Tudor Rose" bowl made in 1934, noted earlier, and his brother both purchased Ramsden silver from the CNE. Some of his pieces have descended in his family, along with a silver bowl and its design drawing that he ordered from Ramsden for family christenings.25

25 Visiting Canadians were also able to purchase or order directly from Ramsden's showroom in London. At least one Canadian bride-to-be is said to have been taken there by her father to order flatware.26 This may have been the manner in which Mrs Josephine Eaton Burnside, sister of the department-store magnate Timothy Eaton, and a prominent lady in Toronto society, acquired the thirteen small pieces of Ramsden silver that she presented to the Royal Ontario Museum in 1941 (accession numbers 941.8.41-.53). Although at least two of the flatware pieces correspond to models shown at the CNE, the 1937, 1938 and 1939 hallmarks indicate that Mrs Burnside had purchased them after Ramsden had ceased exhibiting.

26 After 1939, special exhibits of art and applied art were no longer organized by the CNE, partly because of World War h and partly because of rising costs. The Art Committee did not meet again until 28 May 1948, and no formal art shows have been organized since 1984. The impact that the exhibits of fine British contemporary applied art may have exerted on Canadian taste and local craftspeople between 1922 and 1939 is difficult to assess. There is some evidence that these exhibits enhanced the credibility of Canada as a market for fine British silver. On 18 April 1935, Mr C. R. Chisman, who had replaced E. Rimbault Dibdin as the art director in Europe for the CNE, wrote to Mr G. R. Hughes, the assistant clerk of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, to enquire how he might borrow two pieces of silver shown at the recent Royal Academy Exhibition of British Art in Industry.27 One of them, a beaker by Edward Spencer of the Artificers' Guild Limited in London, was not available. However, Spencer replied promptly to Hughes on 1 May 1935: ". . . I am glad indeed that this piece has found favour with the Toronto authorities who have a reputation for caring for standard. I will certainly make a replica of the beaker [for display at the CNE]."28 On 13 May 1935 Spencer wrote to inform Hughes that the finished replica was available for pickup at his premises at 30 Grosvenor Street in London.29 Edward Spencer's readiness to oblige suggests that the exhibits of applied art at the CNE were recognized as a significant event by British craftspeople.

27 Further evidence of the taste for fine British silver of contemporary design is found in File 0.11.3(17) "EXHIBITIONS ABROAD 1936 Canada (Henry Birks & Sons)" preserved in the Library of Goldsmiths' Hall. In this file, correspondence and artifact lists dating 1934 to 1936 document the evolution of a major exhibit of approximately one hundred pieces of "British Silverwork by Well-known Designers and Craftsmen of the Present Day Lent by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of London." Sterling, silverplate, chrome and glass were included. The exhibit was shown at Henry Birks & Sons in Montreal, in March, 1936; at Birks-Ellis-Ryrie Limited on Yonge and Temperance Streets in Toronto, 1-14 April 1936; and before returning to England, in New York under the auspices of the British Empire Chamber of Commerce, who requested the loan of the "Toronto Exhibit" in a cable dated 7 April 1936 to Goldsmiths' Hall. Evidently, even in the limited luxury market of fine silver, Canadian taste had developed by the 1930s to encompass an appreciation of the latest international styles.