PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Ontario
Sold sale of Canadian Fine Art, Waddington's, November 23, 2015, lot 6
Private Collection, Toronto

Côte de la Fabrique is one of Quebec City’s oldest and most storied streets, appearing on the very first map of the city, made in the seventeenth century. Its name comes from the group of laypersons in charge of managing the parish’s material possessions, known in French as a fabrique paroissiale. Established in 1656, the parish around Côte de la Fabrique later included the church built in 1664, located at the end of the street, which became the Notre-Dame-de-Québec Basilica-Cathedral. Beginning in the nineteenth century, Côte de la Fabrique developed into a commercial street. The Upper Town public market settled in the square facing the church, which encouraged many high-end merchants, such as hatters, furriers and tailors, to set up shop nearby.

This lively oil by Montreal painter John Little perfectly depicts the bustling activity of this iconic street. Painted at the junction with Rue Garneau facing east, Côte de la Fabrique is represented here at what is likely rush hour, with a plethora of automobiles, pedestrians, a horse-drawn carriage and two electric tramway cars (established in the city in 1897). In Rue Fabrique, Quebec, Little skilfully captures a moment in time, carefully preserving the history of Côte de la Fabrique.

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