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Primary sourcePhotograph1863

George-Etienne Cartier 01

William Notman · 1863

A dated 1863 Notman photograph of George-Étienne Cartier, taken the year before the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences.

This 1863 portrait shows Cartier the year before the Great Coalition and the Confederation conferences began.

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Black and white studio portrait of a man with light, swept-back hair in a long dark frock coat, high white collar, dark bow tie, and waistcoat. He stands with one hand on his hip and the other resting on a large rolled paper on a carved table.
William Notman, George-Etienne Cartier 01, 1863. McCord collection.

About this source

What it is

This 1863 photograph by William Notman, held in the McCord collection, shows George-Étienne Cartier in a dark frock coat and waistcoat, one hand on his hip and the other resting on a rolled paper on a carved table.

Why it matters

This image was taken the year before the Great Coalition formed and the Confederation conferences began, capturing Cartier as a leading politician of Canada East on the eve of the biggest political project of his career. It is part of a larger body of Notman studio portraits of Canadian political figures from this era.

Look closer

  • What similarities do you notice between this photograph and other Notman portraits of Cartier?
  • Why might a politician want several formal portraits made around the same time?
  • What does the setting — studio backdrop, carved furniture — tell you about how such portraits were staged?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of George-Étienne Cartier on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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