A Labrador Woman
Reproduction
Object numberRCSSC/P 243
CollectionHunterian Art
CategoryVisual works
Object nameOil paintings, Portraits
TitleA Labrador Woman
DescriptionPortrait of Caubvick, an Inuit woman from Labrador, artist unknown, c.1772.
The portrait is half length to left, the arms crossed, wearing a light-brown dress with fur sleeves, her long hair is bound with a white ribbon with a head-dress and long bead ornaments hang down on each side of her face as lappets. Faint traces of tattoos are visible on her chin, in a series of lines running down and slightly raidiating out from her lower lip.
The sitter is believed to be one of a family of five Eskimos (Inuit) brought to Britain from Labrador in North-Eastern Canada by George Cartwright in 1772. The sitter has traditionally been identified as Mecock (sometime spelt Mycock or Mikak). However, although an Inuit woman of this name was brought to London in 1769, she was not part of the group which visited with George Cartwright in 1772. The latter included two women: Caubvick and Ickongogue. The party are known to have visited John Hunter while in London, and a sketch of the whole party is preserved among the drawings owned by Hunter. From this it appears that the sitter in this portrait is the younger of the two women, Caubvick.
The tattoos on the chin are very faint, and were invisible before the painting was conserved in 2003. Careful study during conservation suggests that they may have been painted over by the artist, and were not intended to be visible in the final version.
Production date 1772
Owner/user
Sitter/subject
Acquisition source
Related objectsRCSSC/HDB/2/2/180/1
Physical Location
LocationOn display in the Hunterian Museum, Room 6: Leicester Square
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas, 75cm by 63cm, in glazed gilt frame, 87.5cm by 73cm.
Dimensions
Frame height: 875 mm
Frame width: 730 mm
Frame depth: 50 mm
Frame width: 730 mm
Frame depth: 50 mm
Bibliography
SourcePearson 1978
NotesPearson offers a comparison between the known portraits of Mecock and the Eskimos who visited in 1772. He concludes that the Hunterian portrait probably shows Ickongogue, but at time of writing he was unaware of the drawing in the Hunter drawing books showing the whole party.
SourceLe Fanu 1960
Transcript243. Mecock, a Labrador Woman. Hunterian. Oil on canvas, unsigned. 75 x 63 cm. Half length to left, the arms crossed. She wears a light-brown dress with fur sleeves; her head is bound with a white ribbon, and long bead ornaments hand from the hair in front of each ear. Clift 1816 no. 21, 1820 no. 14; Keith no. 3.
SourceClift 1816
NotesClift's mss. list of paintings in the RCS Museum.
Transcript21. The Portrait of a Woman from the Coast of Labrador. Painter's name unknown.
"Her name was Mecock; she had a son called Tucock:- Her Husband was killed in taking her. She had the small Pox while in England, and carried the infection back to Labrador which proved destructive to above three hundred persons. The infection was conveyed back in her Hair, which was cut off and preserved."
The description I had from John Samuel Charlton Esq. (Mr Charlton's Description) member of the Council of the College 1800, who had seen and knew the Woman and her History.
