I visited the historical attraction Casa Loma, the Edwardian castle built by Sir Henry Pellatt (1859-1939) while I was in Toronto recently. I was particularly interested in any Chinese objects of art that might be present. On the whole there were not many. There was one guest room decorated in the Chinoiserie style. And there were blue and white porcelain vases, glazed multi-colored vases and cloisonné vases in cabinets and shelves elsewhere. I found only one Chinese painting. There was one porcelain figurine I could make out from a distance and a few ivory carvings. One colourful round ball-like vase was tucked away with books in the library.
The castle is a grand architectural structure and full of valuable ornamental period pieces and the amount of Chinese art there in a way reflects the amount of interest and knowledge of things Chinese by Canadians in the first decades of the 20th century.
September 9, 2015.