Sculpture
The Honourable Ellen Fairclough sitting for the
artist Elizabeth Holbrook. About 10 sittings were
given, all within the Minister's office,
September 1959.
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The holdings of freestanding sculpture within the
Heritage Collection of the House of Commons are
composed primarily of statues and busts of former
parliamentarians. The majority of these sculptures, of
which 12 are shown in this section, were gifts
presented to the House of Commons. The remaining two
pieces discussed here are representative of a smaller
number of sculptural pieces that were purchased by
Parliament.
In most cases, the artworks were initiated by the
sculptors themselves, commissioned by political
associates, or purchased by an organization, family
members or friends of Members for presentation to
Parliament.
The image on this page is a good example of this
process. It shows artist Elizabeth Holbrook working on
a model for a portrait bust of the first female federal
minister: the Honourable Ellen Louks Fairclough, who
was the Member of Parliament for Hamilton West from
1950 to 1963. The completed bronze bust, initiated by
the sculptress in 1959, was exhibited for a period of
time at the Art Gallery of Hamilton before being
purchased by the Zonta Club of Hamilton: a service
association dedicated to advancing the status of women.
The Zonta Club purchased this piece for the House of
Commons to commemorate the Centennial of Confederation.
It was formally presented to Speaker Lucien Lamoureux
on February 6, 1967.
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