Born in Holland, William Oosterhoff came to Canada in 1925. Oosterhoff began to work as a wood carver at a furniture manufacturing company. He soon abandoned the job to concentrate on stone carving and making building decorations. With a background in naval architecture, Oosterhoff was accustomed to working with large surface areas. This knowledge of architecture no doubt helped him to acquire the Dominion Stone Carver's position in 1950 upon the death of Cléophas Soucy.

In addition to designing the sculpture for the central rotunda of Canada's Parliament, Oosterhoff worked in the Senate and Confederation Hall and carved the stones surrounding the entrance to the House of Commons. Near the end of his career, he produced three standard models of the Canadian coat of arms for all government buildings. Oosterhoff had overseen the ornamentation of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa for over ten years before he retired and Eleanor Milne obtained her position as Dominion Sculptor.

Reference: Hayward Collection of Slides and Documentation at Concordia University.

LINK TO RELATED CANADA'S DIGITAL COLLECTIONS WEBPAGE:
Canadian Sculpture: Coming of Age.

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