Maquette of the statue Elizabeth II
Acquired in commemoration of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee, 2012.
Following a national competition, the late Jack Harman was commissioned by the Government of Canada in 1990 to design and create an equestrian statue of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to mark the 125th anniversary of Confederation. Her Majesty is represented as seated astride the horse Centenial—a gift to the Queen from Canada in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The bronze design created and cast by Mr. Harman was unveiled on Parliament Hill on July 1, 1992.
Mr. Harman was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1927. Following his training in Canada and England, he returned to Canada in the mid-1950s in order to pursue his career as an artist and teacher in British Columbia. By the late 1980s, Mr. Harman was recognized as one of Canada’s leading sculptors with works across the country and abroad. Mr. Harman died in 2001.
The bronze maquette was acquired by the House of Commons from Harman Sculpture Foundry of Red Deer, Alberta, whose operation has continued under the son of the artist, Mr. Stephen Harman. The cast bronze maquette is one of twelve sculptures cast in 1993 by Jack Harman. The original maquette was created in wax by the sculptor in 1990 as a preliminary stage in the design of the one and a half life-sized sculpture of Her Majesty and was part of the approval process. As a preliminary design it differs in a number of respects from the final sculpture, but captures the essence of the composition and is an integral step in the creative process. It should not be confused with a miniature replica of the final sculpture.