Series LA.SC115.S3 - Decorative designs and drawings

Identity area

Reference code

LA.SC115.S3

Title

Decorative designs and drawings

Date(s)

  • 1890–1914 (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

85 drawings
11 bookplates
9 die impressions
8 photographs
1 folder of textual records
1 certificate
1 diploma

Context area

Name of creator

(1854-1916)

Biographical history

Alfred Harold Howard (1854–1916) was a British Canadian graphic artist, calligrapher and decorative designer in Toronto in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Liverpool, England, he apprenticed as a lithographer with the Liverpool branch of the firm Maclure, Macdonald and Macgregor. In 1876 he immigrated to Canada and eventually opened an office of graphic design in the Temple Building in downtown Toronto. He received the Marquess of Lorne’s Medal for Design in 1881 and was made an academician of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1883.
Howard’s commercial design work took the form of illuminated addresses of welcome, certificates and diplomas and addresses of condolence. In 1891 he produced the City of Toronto address of condolence presented to Lady Macdonald on the death of the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Howard exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists at their Applied Art Exhibition in 1900 and with the Canadian Society of Applied Art in 1905. He was a member of the Toronto Art Students’ League and the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. When he died in Toronto in 1916 (26 February), the Art Museum of Toronto held a memorial exhibition of his work.
Howard’s artworks are in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Toronto Reference Library, the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Series comprises drawings by A. H. Howard of designs for illuminated addresses to dignitaries; designs of
book covers and bookplates; heraldic designs and insignia; photos of a book presented to the Governor
General of Canada, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, in 1914; and drawings of flowers and trees. Also
included are a certificate and a diploma designed by Howard, his business card, business letterhead and
other materials added to the fonds from related AGO Library and Archives files in 2010.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open. Access to Special Collections is by appointment only. Please contact the reference desk for more information.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copyright has been transferred to the Art Gallery of Ontario.Material in this fonds is in the public domain. Permission of the Art Gallery of Ontario is required for publication.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Series title based on contents. — Most items in the files of this series are mounted on sheets of paper or cardboard.

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

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Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Edward P. Taylor Library and Archives, Art Gallery of Ontario

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

Accession area

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