Muskoka Antiques; Tom Thomson's Tenor Banjo and The "What If's" of Provenance

Andrew Currie and Tom Thomson's Tenor Banjo! Maybe! 

Drawing of Gibson Girl that may have been from the hand of Tom Thomson

DID TOM THOMSON PLAY THIS TENOR BANJO - AND DID HE SKETCH THIS PORTRAIT?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GIVE IT A WHIRL? IT'S JOINING OUR COVETED MENDELSON JOE GUITAR, AS THE OFFICIAL SHOP BANJO!


    ARE WE SHOWOFFS OR WHAT? FIRST WE'RE BRAGGING ABOUT HAVING AN ORIGINAL MENDELSON JOE "PAINTED" "GUILD" GUITAR, FROM HIS DAYS PLAYING WITH THE CANADIAN BAND, "MAINLINE," AND THEN IT WAS ANOTHER GUITAR, A "HARMONY ARCHTOP," OWNED, AND WELL-PLAYED, BY YOUNG CANADIAN BLUES MUSICIAN, JIMMY BOWSKILL. WHEN WE ACQUIRED BOTH OF THEM FOR THE SHOP'S PERMANENT COLLECTION, THE IDEA WAS TO BEGIN BUILDING IN EARNEST, A SMALL, INTERACTIVE "SHOW AND TELL" COMPONENT, TO OUR ANTIQUE AND MUSIC ENTERPRISES. WE KNOW HOW SOME PATRONS DISLIKE HAVING "EXHIBITION ONLY," PIECES, MOUNTED FOR DISPLAY, IN COLLECTABLE SHOPS, BUT WE REALLY WANTED TO HANG ONTO THESE PARTICULAR INSTRUMENTS BECAUSE OF THEIR PLACE IN CANADIAN MUSIC HISTORY. SO WE DEVISED A PLAN TO CREATE AN IN-STORE SITUATION, WHERE WE COULD SHARE THESE SPECIAL INSTRUMENTS, WITH OUR MUSIC FRIENDS AND ANTIQUE SHOP PATRONS. UNLIKE A STATIC MUSEUM COLLECTION, WE HAVE A STUDIO IN WHICH TO PLAY, AND THE HAPPIEST THESE INSTRUMENTS COULD BE....IF, THAT IS, THEY COULD COMMUNICATE, IS BEING CRADLED IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE ABOUT TO MAKE IT SING AGAIN.
     WE HAVE QUITE A FEW STORIED INSTRUMENTS AND ANTIQUES AROUND HERE, AND SOME ARE EVEN FOR SALE. AS FOR OUR PERMANENT COLLECTION, IT HAS BEEN GETTING A PRETTY FAIR WORK-OUT THESE DAYS; AND AS FOR OUR TWO PRIZE GUITARS, MENDELSON JOE, AND JIMMY BOWSKILL CAN REST ASSURED, THEIR FORMER POSSESSIONS ARE BEING USED AND APPRECIATED BY OUR GUESTS. WHAT'S MOST INTERESTING ABOUT THIS INTERACTIVE ARRANGEMENT, HAS BEEN THE INCREDIBLE COLLECTION OF RETROSPECTIVES WE'VE BEEN GETTING, FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE FOLLOWED BOTH MUSICIANS WORK, WHICH FOR JOE GOES BACK TO THE 1960'S, AND FOR BOWSKILL, TO HIS WELL KNOWN CONNECTION TO THE LATE, LEGENDARY CANADIAN MUSICIAN, JEFF HEALEY.     IT HAS REALLY BEEN QUITE REMARKABLE, JUST HOW MANY LENGTHY CONVERSATIONS, HAVE BEEN INSPIRED LATELY, BY THOSE SAME INSTRUMENTS, SHOWN-OFF PROUDLY BY ANDREW AND ROBERT TO OUR CUSTOMERS; WITH OF COURSE, THE GREATEST REVERENCE, AS IF OPENING THE CASE ON A STRADIVARIUS. OKAY, SO THEY GET A LITTLE CARRIED AWAY. I SUGGESTED THAT THEY SHOULD GET WHITE GLOVES, LIKE THE HANDLER OF THE STANLEY CUP WEARS, WHEN TAKING THE SILVERWARE OUT OF ITS TRAVEL-CASE, AT SPECIAL EVENTS. IF YOU WERE TO CONNECT TO ANDREW AND ROBERT'S NEW BUSINESS FACEBOOK PAGE, YOU'D FIND OUT ABOUT HOW THESE MUSIC CONNECTIONS STRETCH ACROSS CANADA AND BEYOND; LINKING MUSICIANS AND THEIR MATES, WHO HAVE PLAYED WITH BOTH CHAPS AT SOME TIME OR OTHER. THEN THERE WILL INEVITABLY BE REFERENCE MADE TO MENDELSON JOE'S PAINTINGS, AND THE LINK TO KAREN ROBINSON'S REALLY NEAT WOODLAND ART GALLERY, IN EMSDALE, ONTARIO, WHERE YOU CAN ACQUIRE ONE OF HIS ORIGINAL ART PIECES. NO, I DON'T THINK WE WILL OPT TO SELL JOE'S GUITAR, OR JIMMY'S, BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING SO MUCH ENJOYMENT, FROM HAVING FOLKS GIVE THEM A WHIRL IN OUR STUDIO.....A SORT OF HANDS-ON CANADIAN MUSIC LESSON, FREE FOR THE PRICE OF COMING IN TO THE SHOP. SINCE ACQUIRING BOTH INSTRUMENTS, IN DECEMBER, WE'VE HAD HUNDREDS OF "TAKERS" FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY GUITARS WITH SIGNIFICANT PROVENANCE. WE HAVE AS MUCH FUN AS OUR PATRONS WITH THIS, AND WE GET TO REPRESENT THE HERITAGE OF THE PIECES AT THE SAME TIME, WHICH IS QUITE AN HONOR. IT'S WHY WE ARE LOOKING FOR MORE INSTRUMENTS WITH SIMILAR BIOGRAPHIES ATTACHED, TO COMPLIMENT THE CURRENT COLLECTION.....WHICH BY THE WAY, HAS NOW INCREASED BY ONE VERY UNIQUE "TENOR BANJO." YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE THIS STORY, BUT GIVE ME A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN HOW IT ALL CAME ABOUT......A NEAT MUSIC ANECDOTE THAT BEGAN FOR US, CLOSE TO A DECADE AGO....AND AS THEY SAY, "STILL THE ROAD WINDS ON....."
     TODAY, WE HAVE ADDED ONE OF OUR MOST COVETED PIECES OF MUSIC HERITAGE. IT'S BEEN IN OUR PERMANENT COLLECTION ALL THIS TIME, AWAITING SOME REPAIRS, AND JUST THIS WEEK, ANDREW DECIDED TO GET IT SHOP-READY. TO MAKE THE STORY A LITTLE MORE DIMENSIONAL, AND HISTORICAL, IT HAS THE WILD CONTRADICTION ATTACHED, THAT IT COULD BE WORTH MANY, MANY, MANY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, OR BE WORTH THE ANTIQUATED PRICE OF A TYPICAL, NO-FRILLS, LATE 1800'S, CATALOGUE-BOUGHT, TENOR BANJO. NO BIG DEAL. OR MAYBE, IT IS. THE VALUE RESTS ON ONE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL CONNECTION. DID THE LATE CANADIAN LANDSCAPE ARTIST, TOM THOMSON, PLAY THIS BANJO? WAS HE THE SKETCH ARTIST, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ART WORK, FOUND ON THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE BANJO SKIN?  WE HAVE IT ON PRETTY GOOD AUTHORITY, FROM AN EXPERT IN CANADIAN ART, THAT AT THE VERY LEAST, THE SKETCH OF THE HATTED-LADY, DEFINITELY SHOWS SOME OF THE TECHNIQUES PRACTICED BY THE ARTIST, IN OTHER WORKS FROM THE EARLY PART OF THE 1900'S; WHEN HE WAS EMPLOYED AS AN APPRENTICE ILLUSTRATOR, WORKING FOR A COMMERCIAL ART COMPANY IN TORONTO. WE HAVE HAD QUITE A NUMBER OF FOLKS, FAMILIAR WITH CANADIAN ART HISTORY, AND THOMSON'S WORK, EXAMINE THE PENNED IMAGE, AND THERE IS SOME AGREEMENT THAT "IT COULD BE THE WORK OF TOM THOMSON." HERE'S THE KICKER. HE DIDN'T SIGN OR INITIAL THE ART PIECE. BUT HE DID OWN A TENOR BANJO AT ONE TIME IN HIS SHORT LIFE, AND IT HAS, ALLEGEDLY, NEVER BEEN FOUND. THERE IS REFERENCE TO THE BANJO, IN THE LANDMARK BOOK, "SILENCE AND THE STORM," WRITTEN BY ART HISTORIAN DAVID SILCOX, AND GROUP OF ELEVEN ARTIST, HAROLD TOWN, BACK IN THE LATE 1970'S. THERE IT IS, BIG AND AMBIGUOUS, THE WAY WE HISTORIANS LIKE IT; AN EDITORIAL REFERENCE, NOTING THE BANJO HAS NOT BEEN LOCATED SINCE. BY GOLLY, THAT'S ALL WE STORY-SPINNERS AND WEAVERS NEED, TO MAKE IT A NATIONAL MYSTERY. BUT FOLKS, THAT'S NOT OUR INTENT. BUT HERE'S HOW THE STORY OF OUR TENOR BANJO GOT ITS FIRST PARAGRAPH OF EXPOSURE, ABOUT A DECADE AGO, WHEN WE ACQUIRED IT FROM A REGIONAL ANTIQUE MALL. IT GOES LIKE THIS:
     OUR FAMILY IS KIND OF HOOKED ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF TOM THOMSON. IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT. IT'S MINE. WHEN I STARTED RESEARCHING THE MYSTERY, SURROUNDING THOMSON'S DEATH, ALLEGEDLY THE RESULT OF ACCIDENTAL DROWNING, ON ALGONQUIN PARK'S CANOE LAKE, IN EARLY JULY, 1917, IT DIDN'T BECOME AN OBSESSION. BUT IT DID BECOME SOMEWHAT OF A "LIFESTYLE BY IMMERSION" CIRCUMSTANCE. THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME, AT LEAST ON A MINOR SCALE, WHEN I IMMERSE MYSELF IN SOME CANADIAN RESEARCH PROJECT. I TEND TO THROW MYSELF AT THESE PROJECTS, AND SOMETIMES, TOO DEEPLY FOR MY OWN OBJECTIVITY. MAYBE THOMSON IS A CASE IN POINT. AT THIS STAGE, I'M NOT CHANGING A THING.
     I GOT TURNED ONTO THE THOMSON STORY, BY THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF JUDGE WILLIAM LITTLE'S DEATH THAT YEAR; AND THE FACT I HAD BEEN A HUGE FAN OF HIS OWN RESEARCH, WHICH HAD LED TO THE LANDMARK BOOK, "THE TOM THOMSON MYSTERY," (WHICH ARRIVED IN CANADIAN BOOKSTORES IN THE EARLY 1970'S). IT WAS JUDGE LITTLE WHO HAD PARTICIPATED IN THE UNAUTHORIZED EXHUMATION, OF THE CANOE LAKE CEMETERY PLOT, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE, ONCE, FOR A VERY SHORT PERIOD, (THAT FATEFUL JULY), HELD HIS REMAINS. WITHIN HOURS OF HIS BURIAL, THE FAMILY, SPOKEN FOR BY BROTHER GEORGE THOMSON, GAVE ORDERS TO A HUNTSVILLE UNDERTAKER, TO DIG UP THE COFFIN, AND SHIP IT VIA RAIL, BACK TO LEITH, ONTARIO, WHERE THE FAMILY RESIDED. IT WAS TO BE REBURIED IN THE VILLAGE. WHILE THOMSON WAS IN THE GROUND, BACK IN ALGONQUIN, HE EVEN MISSED HIS OWN CORONERS INQUEST. THE CORONER OPTED NOT TO HAVE THE BODY REMOVED FROM THE GRAVE FOR AN ACTUAL AUTOPSY. WHAT LITTLE REVEALED, BY DIGGING UP THE GRAVE IN THE 1950'S, WAS THAT SKELETAL REMAINS, MATCHING THOMSON'S FRAME, AND SKULL SHAPE, WERE STILL COMFORTABLY APPOINTED IN THE MOWAT PLOT. THE IDENTICAL COFFIN THAT WAS BURIED WITH THOMSON, WAS IN THE SAME PLACE IT HAD BEEN LOWERED, IN JULY 1917. ALTHOUGH IT WAS STUDIED, AND DISMISSED AS NOT BEING THE REMAINS OF THE CANADIAN ARTIST, MOST THOMSON HISTORIANS THESE DAYS, BELIEVE OTHERWISE. LITTLE HAD UNCOVERED A GOVERNMENT COVER-UP....A NATIONAL SECRET; ONE THAT WAS THOUGHT SAFE FROM MEDDLERS, BY PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES IN CHARGE OF THE FILE; BEST SERVED, AS IS TYPICAL, BY SIMPLY FEIGNING IGNORANCE WITH A TOUCH OF INDIGNATION, THAT ANY PRYING HISTORIAN WOULD DARE CHALLENGE, A CLOSED CASE.
    IT WAS ALSO SUGGESTED BY WILLIAM LITTLE, AS ART HISTORIAN BLODWEN DAVIES, HAD NOTED IN THE LATE 1920'S, ABOUT THOMSON, THAT HIS DEMISE HAD NOT BEEN THE RESULT OF DROWNING. RATHER, THE PAINTER HAD BEEN MURDERED, AND THEN DUMPED IN THE LAKE....HIS CANOE SET ADRIFT TO MAKE IT LOOK AS IF HE HAD TOPPLED OUT, AND THEN DROWNED. POINT OF ALL THIS, IS THAT WHEN JUDGE LITTLE PASSED AWAY, A LOT OF CRITICS, INCLUDING TRAPPER RALPH BICE, ALSO A COLUMN WRITER FOR THE LOCAL PRESS, TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO CRITIQUE HIS ASSERTION ABOUT THE MURDER SCENARIO. THAT'S WHEN I GOT TURNED ON TO THE WHOLE THOMSON STORY. I LOVED THOMSON'S WORK, AND READ EVERYTHING I COULD ABOUT HIM, AS A YOUNG MAN, AND THEN HIS WORK IN THE FIELD OF COMMERCIAL ART. I VERY MUCH SUPPORTED THE THEORIES ADVANCED BY JUDGE LITTLE, AND STILL DO AS A MATTER OF FACT.  
     GETTING INVOLVED WITH THOMSON IN THE MID 1990'S BECAME AN ADVENTURE FOR THE WHOLE CURRIE FAMILY. IT LED US TO A CAMPING AND ADVENTURE-FILLED RELATIONSHIP, WITH ALGONQUIN PARK, ESPECIALLY CANOE AND TEA LAKES. WE HAVE CANOED THOSE LAKES SO MANY TIMES, AND WE'VE ALWAYS HATED WHEN IT WAS TIME TO HEAD HOME. I'VE BEEN WRITING FULL LENGTH FEATURES ON THOMSON, AND HIS MYSTERIOUS DEATH, FOR ALMOST TWENTY YEARS NOW, AND IT HAS INFILTRATED BIRCH HOLLOW AND MY ARCHIVES. OF ALL THE MATERIAL I HAVE WORKED ON, OVER THE DECADES, IN TERMS OF HISTORICAL FEATURES, IT'S STILL THE BIOGRAPHY I MOST ENJOY CRAFTING INTO NEW FEATURE COLUMNS. IN MY ARCHIVES OF THIS BLOG, MY WORK ON THOMSON IS STILL THE MOST FREQUENTLY VIEWED MATERIAL, IN RETROSPECT, AND IN TERMS OF PRINT, THE THOMSON STORY HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN FOUR REGIONAL PAPERS AND MAGAZINES. SO WHEN WE CAME UPON THIS TENOR BANJO, AND SAW THE DRAWING ON THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE (BANJO) SKIN, WE DEFINITELY PAUSED TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY, IT COULD HAVE BEEN DRAWN BY THOMSON. I ALREADY KNEW, BY THIS TIME, SO MUCH ABOUT THOMSON, THAT I EVEN REMEMBERED THE BRIEF PASSAGE IN THE BOOK, BY DAVID SILCOX, ABOUT THERE BEING A MISSING TENOR BANJO, THAT THE ARTIST USED TO PLAY IN FAMILY AND CHURCH SOCIABLES. WE FOUND IT IN AN AREA OF THE PROVINCE THAT WAS TRAVELLED BY THOMSON, AND NOT SO FAR FROM THE HOME COMMUNITY; SO AS HISTORIANS, WE BEGAN PIECING THINGS TOGETHER MORE STUDIOUSLY. THE PRICE WAS RIGHT, AND EVEN IF IT WAS JUST A NEAT VINTAGE BANJO WITH AN UNUSUAL DRAWING INSIDE....IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WOULD FIT OUR COLLECTION OF CURIOUS INSTRUMENTS.
     SEVERAL YEARS AGO, WE SUBMITTED THE DRAWING AND THE STORY FOR CONSIDERATION, TO WELL RESPECTED AUTHORITIES IN CANADIAN ART, AND THE WORK OF TOM THOMSON. IT WAS CONSIDERED PARALLEL, IN MANY WAYS, TO HIS COMMERCIAL ART WORK, AND SOMETHING HE COULD HAVE DONE FOR FUN.....AND EVEN ON THE REVERSE OF THE BANJO SKIN. IT WAS A LATE 1800'S TENOR BANJO, AND WELL, YOU NEVER KNOW. THE PROBLEM, AND IT WAS A BIG ONE, IF VALUATION WAS THE ONLY CONCERN. THE FACT, THOMSON, IF HE ACTUALLY HAD THIS BANJO, DIDN'T SIGN OR INITIAL THE DRAWING, OR CARVE SOMETHING PERSONAL INTO THE NECK, MEANS THAT AT BEST, IT WILL ONLY EVER BE A "POSSIBILITY" AND A THOMSON "NOVELTY," THAT STRADDLES THAT UNFORTUNATE LINE, BETWEEN POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION AND "WHO KNOWS?" BUT UNLESS ANOTHER TENOR BANJO POPS UP, WITH HIS INITIALS CARVED ONTO THE BODY, THEN WE'LL JUST DWELL IN THAT REALM OF POSSIBILITY.....AND AT LEAST WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE MONEY SIDE WHERE WE'D HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT INSURING IT FOR A MILLION BUCKS. NOW WE CAN JUST OFFER IT TO OUR INTERESTED VISITORS, AS ONE OF CANADA'S GREAT MYSTERIES......THAT CAN BE PLAYED AS WELL AS PONDERED.
    SO HERE NOW, ALONGSIDE THE INSTRUMENTS ONCE PLAYED BY MENDELSON JOE, AND JIMMY BOWSKILL, IS THE OLD TENOR BANJO, THAT JUST MIGHT HAVE BEEN PLAYED BY CANADA'S BEST KNOWN LANDSCAPE PAINTER, TOM THOMSON. WE'RE NOT BRAGGING. I MIGHT IF IT WAS WORTH A MILLION DOLLARS, BUT NOW IT'S JUST A STORIED PIECE, THAT WE VERY MUCH WANT TO SHARE, AND SEE PLAYED ONCE AGAIN. YOU NEVER KNOW. WHEN ONE OF OUR VISITORS ASKS ABOUT THE COMPATIBILITY OF OUR TWO SHOP COMPONENTS, MUSIC AND ANTIQUES, WONDERING HOW WE CAN CO-EXIST AND HELP EACH OTHER, WE CAN POINT OUT OUR THOMSON BANJO, AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE COMMON-ZONE BETWEEN OUR OPERATIONS....THAT HINGES RATHER WELL, ON THE PROMOTION OF HERITAGE IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER. IT SURE GIVES OUR COMBINED BUSINESSES THAT CANADIAN SEAL OF APPROVAL, THAT'S FOR SURE....AND OUR PATRONS SEEM TO LIKE THE INHERENT FEELING, THAT WE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT OUR SOCIAL / CULTURAL MILESTONES. AT LEAST I HOPE THAT'S WHAT THEY THINK. AND WHEN WE STOP AND LISTEN TO A TRAVELLING MUSICIAN, PLAYING ONE OF THESE INSTRUMENTS, THAT HAS SO MUCH UNIQUE PROVENANCE, BY GOLLY, IT'S GRAND TO BE IN THIS CHAIR IN THE STUDIO....WHERE HISTORY SEEMS TO UNFOLD EVERY DAY.
     THANKS SO MUCH FOR VISITING TODAY'S BLOG. WE HAD A NICE VISIT WITH OUR ORILLIA FRIEND, CINDY, AND HER FAMILY, WHO, LIKE OUR CLAN, ARE STALWART ANTIQUERS.....WHO FIND GREAT RECREATION IN THE PURSUIT OF HISTORY. NICE TO SEE YOU FOLKS.
     PLEASE VISIT AGAIN. LOTS MORE COMING DOWN THE PIKE. I'VE GOT TO MOVE FROM MY COMFORTABLE PERCH, RIGHT NOW, AS ROBERT'S GUITAR LESSON HAS JUST ARRIVED.....AND APPARENTLY I GET IN THE WAY. I'M A LITTLE TRANSIENT AROUND HERE, BUT IT'S A SMALL PRICE TO PAY, FOR BEING AFFORDED SUCH A NEAT PLACE IN WHICH TO WRITE EACH DAY.