The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), a long-standing pillar of Canadian retail history, is set to open the doors to its treasure trove, auctioning off more than three centuries’ worth of commerce and art.
Heffel Fine Art Auction House revealed the first 27 items to be auctioned next month from HBC’s art and artifacts collection. The items listed in the catalogue will be on display in the city from Nov. 11 to 18, with the live auction scheduled to take place between Nov. 12 and Dec. 4.
The now non-operational company retained the items to help its creditors recover a portion of what is owed and in hopes of finding the pieces new homes, according to media reports.
The sale will be held within Heffel’s “state-of-the-art” auction room in Toronto. The November live auction marks a milestone for the auction house — 30 years since the firm’s first sale in 1995.
For over 350 years, the HBC had maintained its significance in Canadian history and retail. In March, Hudson’s Bay filed for creditor protection, and its Canadian department stores shuttered in June. The closure followed a series of liquidation sales and resulted in the layoff of more than 8,300 employees.
HUDSON’S BAY AUCTION ITEMS
Three sessions of “major Canadian and international masterworks” will be featured during the sale, aiming to highlight the diversity of the former retailer’s holdings. At the time of HBC’s dissolution, the collection included 4,400 pieces — approximately 1,700 artworks and 2,700 artifacts.
President of Heffel Fine Art Auction House David Heffel says the excitement around the HBC collection auction has been “unprecedented.”
“For the first time, collectors can now take part in this historic moment, carrying forward a piece of Canada’s legacy,” he said in a statement.
Among the works slated for auction are a major canvas of a sunny “Marrakech” painted by famed British statesman Sir Winston Churchill, a dramatic “Battle of Trafalgar” scene by Upper Canada pioneer and painter William von Moll Berczy, and an 1894 oil painting of downtown Toronto by landscape artist Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith.
Churchill’s “Marrakech,” an oil on canvas piece, is a standout of the auction, boasting the highest estimated value at $400,000 to $600,000. The work reflects his travels to Morocco, depicting three women seeking shade under palm trees in the sun-drenched North African country.
Also included in the catalogue are two early 19th-century works by William von Moll Berczy, one of the founders of the City of Toronto. Deemed “exceptionally rare and historically significant,” each canvas stands nearly seven feet tall and carries an estimated value of $70,000 to $90,000.
“The Battle of Trafalgar,” the first of Berczy’s pieces to be auctioned, depicts several warships engaged in battle at sea amid a fiery blaze that sends smoke and a vivid orange haze into the sky. The scene captures the famous British naval victory in 1805.
The second of Bercy’s works to be sold is the “Rear Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson,” an oil on canvas piece which shows the famed British naval commander celebrated for his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars, particularly the victory during the Battle of Trafalgar..
Meanwhile, the painting created by Bell-Smith, “Lights of a City Street,” illustrates a rainy, bustling downtown Toronto. Gifted to the Bay in 1935, the piece is set to be a highlight of the HBC collection auction.
Other works expected to appear during the auction include Hudson’s Bay Company paintings, with more than a dozen created for the company’s historical calendars. These pieces, by artists W.J. Phillips, Franklin Arbuckle, and Frank Johnston, depict iconic moments in Canadian history and reflect the artistic heritage HBC cultivated over decades of commissions.
The online auction, featuring point blankets, rare coins, retail antiquities, and collectible toys, has been described as a tribute to the “retail era,” and is scheduled to run from Nov. 12 to Dec. 4. A preview of the online auction will be available by appointment only from Dec. 1 to 3.
