Tom Thomson's Missing Tenor Banjo; Some Think It Is, Others Would Rather Not Say Yeah!

My favourite go to book when researching Tom Thomson written by David Silcox and Group of Eleven artist Harold Town.

COULD IT BE A BANJO ONCE PLAYED BY TOM THOMSON?

ANTIQUE HUNTING, AND NEVER SAYING "NEVER" - AS ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

THE FOLLOWING WAS AN EXCLUSIVE COLUMN I WROTE LAST YEAR FOR "THE GREAT NORTH ARROW," AND THE FIRST TIME WE ACTUALLY MADE IT PUBLIC, THAT ANDREW MAY……JUST POSSIBLY……YOU NEVER KNOW…..OWN TOM THOMSON'S TENOR BANJO. THE COLUMN WAS WRITTEN TO ACCOMPANY TWO OTHER "THOMSON" RELATED FEATURE STORIES, THAT HAD RUN IN THE PAPER PRIOR TO THIS DEVIATION FROM HISTORY TO THE ANTIQUE DOMAIN. I'LL GIVE YOU A LITTLE PREAMBLE TO THE SITUATION, THAT LED US TO QUESTION A SKETCH OF A "GIBSON GIRL" ON THE INSIDE OF THE BANJO SKIN……TIEING IT TO THE FACT TOM HAD A TENOR BANJO IN HIS EARLY DAYS, BUT ITS WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN. THIS IS ACCORDING TO THE BOOK "TOM THOMSON; SILENCE AND THE STORM," BY DAVID SILCOX AND HAROLD TOWN. IT'S A PASSAGE I REMEMBERED READING, WHILE WORKING ON MY OWN FEATURE COLUMN SERIES, ON THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING THE ARTIST'S DEATH, WHILE CANOEING IN ALGONQUIN PARK, BACK IN JULY OF 1917.

AS I'VE STRESSED A NUMBER OF TIMES IN THIS MOST RECENT BLOG PROFILE, OF ANTIQUE DEALING, AND HISTORICAL HUNTING AND GATHERING, OUR WHOLE FAMILY CAN TURN ON A DIME, TO GRAB UP SOMETHING THAT IS IMPORTANT TO THE OTHER. ANDREW AND ROBERT ARE ROUTINELY FINDING ART WORK, OLD STEAMER TRUNKS (I REFINISH), AND MANY OLD BOOKS FOR ME. SUZANNE AND I ARE ALWAYS COMING HOME FROM A LITTLE WEEKEND ROAD TRIP, WITH SELECTIONS OF VINTAGE VINYL, MUSIC RELATED BOOKS, OLD STEREO SYSTEMS, RECORD PLAYERS, RADIOS, BEATER (BROKEN) GUITARS (FOR REPAIR), AND ANYTHING ELSE THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM, IN THEIR MAIN STREET GRAVENHURST MUSIC SHOP. SO WHEN WE WERE AT AN ANTIQUE MALL, QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO NOW, I FOUND THIS NEAT OLD BANJO THAT LOOKED LIKE IT NEEDED A LOT OF CONSERVATION AND UPGRADES TO BRING IT BACK TO PLAY-ABILITY. AS ANDREW WAS REALLY JUST STARTING IN THE GUITAR AND BANJO RESTORATION BUSINESS, THIS WAS A GOOD LEARNING PIECE. THE BONUS WAS, IT HAD SOME ART WORK, PENNED ONTO THE INSIDE OF THE TORN BANJO SKIN. I THOUGHT ABOUT THOMSON IMMEDIATELY, BECAUSE THE SKETCH OF THE GIBSON GIRL, WHICH WAS A VERY COMMON ART PROFICIENCY TEST, IN THE EARLY 1900'S, WAS VERY SIMILAR TO A PORTRAIT PUBLISHED IN THE BOOK BY SILCOX AND TOWN……CLOSE ENOUGH, THAT I BROUGHT IT TO ANDEW'S ATTENTION…..FIRST AS A NEAT VINTAGE INSTRUMENT AND SECONDLY ONE THAT MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE EXTRA PROVENANCE. I ALSO KNEW THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE SILCOX BOOK, THERE WAS A REFERENCE TO A FORMER TENOR BANJO THE ARTIST HAD USED TO PLAY. WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT CAN GO ON IN A PERSON'S HEAD, ESPECIALLY FOLKS SMITTEN…..AND FOR US, WE WERE ALL FANS OF THE LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS, BY THIS EXCEPTIONAL CANADIAN ARTIST. EVEN THE SLIGHTEST POSSIBILITY OF IT BEING A THOMSON SKETCH, MADE THE HUNDRED DOLLAR ASKING PRICE SEEM INSIGNIFICANT. SO ANDREW MADE THE PURCHASE, AND WE HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING IT EVER SINCE, WITH NO CONCLUSIVE WORD YET, THAT IT IS, OR ISN'T. BUT AS YOU WILL READ, THERE'S EVIDENCE THE SKETCH CLOSELY PARALLELS SEVERAL OF THOMSON'S INK PORTRAIT, WITH SIMILAR COMPETENCE, AS REPORTED BY SEVERAL AUTHORITIES. IT PAYS TO BE EVER WATCHFUL WHILE OUT HUNTING ANTIQUES AND SUCH.

HERE IS THE ORIGINAL FEATURE COLUMN PUBLISHED LAST YEAR IN THE GREAT NORTH ARROW. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!

IS IT REALLY TOM THOMSON'S TENOR BANJO? ARTIST DIED IN JULY 1917 IN ALGONQUIN PARK

BY TED CURRIE

Here is an exclusive feature article for this wonderful and exciting regional Ontario publication. That's right! You are seeing and reading this story for the first time here, on the pages of the Great North Arrow. A Canadian first! A national story of epic proportion. Or something like that, but it is, one way or another, a scoop involving a Canadian art legend!

While few of Thomson's biographers would claim, the artist was as proficient with a musical instrument, as with a paint brush, it is known that he liked to play stringed instruments, and was keen to take advantage of any opportunity to play. Just as most Thomson admirers would love to own an original art panel, most of us would be quite satisfied to own one of his paint brushes. I'd be quite contented with a few brush hairs. So what about owning a tenor banjo that may have belonged, and been actively played by the artist. It's just my opinion, but that would be a Canadian collector's dream instrument.

Let me explain. Just more than a half decade ago, we worked with our two boys, Andrew and Robert, both recent graduates of high school, to set up a vintage music shop here in Gravenhurst. At the time they had already earned a name for themselves as musicians, belonging to several bands, and both lads had a sincere desire to run a retail shop, and set up a corresponding music academy. It was a lengthy and frustrating period, operating on a shoe-string budget, the shop and studio being operated initially, out of our small house here at Birch Hollow. Being able to benefit from mom and pop's own antique business, which they had been involved in for most of their young lives, they were well prepared to scrounge shops and sales for their future inventory. They had studied us for years, buying old books, art, quilts, and blankets. They just applied their knowledge of the "buy and sell," to music related collectibles. It worked like a charm. Soon we came home after yard-sale-Saturdays with a van load of guitars, records, music related posters, and then of course, an array of old chairs, cupboards, folk art, quilts and tea-cups. Crazy. Absolutely. We had fun. Boy did we have a ball!

They knew how to scrounge old beater guitars, and Andrew has become well known for his repairs. Robert is the crackerjack salesman, and old vinyl specialist. By hustling yard sale to flea market, estate sale to auction, they have been able to amass a huge collection of vintage records, as well as having built up a large inventory of rejuvenated music and sound equipment for sale and rent. On top of this they have a large student base to help fund their shop, when retail sales plummet in the off-season.

What does this have to do with an old tenor banjo? The one with a sketch on the skin! The "Gibson Girl" ink drawing that may have been Thomson's handiwork! The sketch the experts believe has the competence of a Tom Thomson drawing. But with no signature, well, it's an interesting tenor banjo with a good story attached. And here it is!

We are a family of Thomson enthusiasts. As I have been actively involved, for more than a decade, in research concerning his mysterious death, on Algonquin's Canoe Lake, (July 1917), my obsession with the artist's life, work and murder (which most researchers now believe of his death), has led our entire family on many pilgrimages to the park, to paddle the routes taken by the artist in this beautiful locale. It has been a part of recreational and professional activities for so long, that it has all become a regular consideration, and a collecting mission. For antique and collectible scroungers, (pickers) like our family, we will latch onto anything Thomsonesque out there on the hustings, whether it is a book, magazine, or art print. Most of our present collection involves out-of-print publications that we use for easy reference, when writing feature articles. On one such outing, in Barrie, I came upon a curious, in poor condition, tenor banjo, stuck in the murky corner of an antique-mall booth. What I thought, initially would make a good restoration project for son Andrew, became more intriguing because of a sketch on the inside of the banjo skin. Not on the front, or face-side of the instrument. But rather, awkwardly positioned on the inside, and in rough condition, there she was…..Ms. Gibson.

I called to Andrew to have a look, to see if it could be repaired back to playing condition. Some old stringed instruments, we find, even for a good price, are beyond repair. This one seemed to show promise. I didn't tell him then, that the drawing made me think of Tom Thomson, and that I was pretty sure he once owned a tenor banjo. I would have to research this at home later. But there was no way we were going to leave this little gem behind.

In the important Thomson biography, "Silence and the Storm," written by art historian David Silcox, and well known Canadian artist, Harold Town, there is a passage that deals with the painter's musical prowess, and there it is! A brief mention of a tenor banjo Thomson used to play. Information suggests it has never been found in the year's since his death. It is the ink sketch of a "Gibson Girl," (a learn-to-sketch model familiar to training/ aspiring artists of Thomson's period), that we believed would prove that the art was the creation of the late, great Tom Thomson. We sent an image of the sketch, to a number of Thomson authorities, in Canada, and on each occasion, the verdict was what we wanted to hear. Yet not quite! You see, it was deemed to be the quality and competence of a Thomson work, but without a signature or any other identifying mark, or etching on the wooden parts of the banjo, it could not be clearly verified one way or another. In some ways, all we were looking for, was the expert advise that it may well be the handiwork of a great Canadian artist. My son had no real idea of having a big payday, off an instrument he has become quite attached. As he is as much interested in Tom Thomson, as I have become, he is pleased as punch to own this modest instrument with untold provenance attached. And when someone asks to see it, he's such a ham, that you get a concert at the same time.

I love the antique business for this very reason. You just never know, when you're out there kicking around sales and flea markets, antique shops and malls, when the holy grail might present itself. Andrew has this wonderful turn of the century banjo in his private collection, whipped-out for special occasions, or just played when the mood strikes. Until proven otherwise, which we could honestly endure by the way, we will continue to believe it was once played by the legendary landscape artist, who may or may not have been murdered, on that fateful day in July, 1917, on a traverse of beautiful Canoe Lake.

We have included a graphic of the tenor banjo and the sketch for your inspection. If you know something we don't about it, or Thomson, feel free to email me.