Unidentified woman, 1838-1839
Artist: Estcourt, lady Caroline Bucknall (1809-1886)
Medium: Watercolour and pencil on wove paper
Dimensions: 27 x 21.9 cm
This portrait is a rare early depiction of an African-Canadian. It was done by the wife of a British army officer at Lundys Lane near Niagara Falls where a number of blacks had settled. Some had come as Loyalists during or after the American Revolution, but most came as refugees from slavery in the United States following 1793 when slavery was abolished in Upper Canada (Ontario).

The artist does not identify the sitter by name, but her inscription on the back of the drawing and on the mount refers to her as the good woman of colour and calls her a good friend. The artist has emphasized the head and depicts it with great sensitivity in the style of a miniature portait.

National Archives of Canada, negative no. C-093963