Little is known about the artist Arthur Haycock. Like many portrait painters plying their trade in North America in the mid-nineteenth century, he appears to have been itinerant. Early in December 1843, in the Kingston Chronicle and Gazette under the title ‘Miniature Painting,’ Haycock announced that he ‘has returned to this town and will be happy to wait on any who may favour him with their patronage.’ By this time, Charles Theophilus Metcalfe was also residing in Kingston, as the newly appointed Governor General of the united province of Canada.

Haycock reveals his talent as a miniature portraitist in the delicate rendering of Metcalfe’s face using stippled watercolour technique. There are several official portraits of Metcalfe. This, however, is the most intimate, where we see him relaxed and informal, but confident in meeting our gaze. Metcalfe was a vociferous opponent of responsible government and clashed with the Legislative Assembly. Long suffering from debilitating cancer on his right cheek (here turned away), he returned to England two years later, and under his successor, power shifted from the Governor to the Assembly.