Heffel Fine Art Auction House in Toronto is showcasing 27 pieces from Hudson’s Bay’s art and artifact collection, which are set to go on sale next month. CTV
A major piece of Canada’s history is heading to auction. On November 19, the first 27 items from Hudson’s Bay Company’s vast 4,400-piece art and artifact collection will be sold by Heffel Fine Art Auction House. The sale marks the beginning of one of the country’s most anticipated art events, with pieces that tell the story of trade, exploration, and culture across centuries.
For auction house president David Heffel, this event holds personal meaning. “I remember my grandmother taking me to Hudson Bay and having the Hudson cheese hot dog with a malt,” he recalled. “I think that was the first restaurant as a young kid in Edmonton that I ate at.”
Rare Works and Priceless History
Inside Heffel’s Toronto showroom, paintings and artifacts from the Hudson’s Bay archives line the walls. The works include famous depictions of Canada’s early fur trade, forts, and explorers. One of the most remarkable pieces is “Lights of a City Street” by Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith, painted in 1894. It shows a rain-soaked Toronto and is valued at up to $150,000.
But the centrepiece of the auction is “Marrakech,” a painting by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill painted it during a trip to Morocco in the mid-1930s. The work, gifted to his wife Clementine, later became part of the Hudson’s Bay collection when she presented it to the company in 1956. The piece is expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000.
Historic Hudson’s Bay clothing pieces are displayed on a rack at Heffel Fine Art Auction House in Toronto on October 23, 2025. CTV
Heffel explained the painting’s background: “In exchange for receiving an honorary title from Hudson’s Bay Company, Churchill was asked to gift a painting. He said he couldn’t because he had given them all to Lady Churchill. Later, Lady Churchill was asked, and she selected this work.”
Pieces from Canada’s Past
Other featured works include paintings by Canadian artists Adam Sherriff Scott, Charles Fraser Comfort, and George Franklin Arbuckle. Many show vivid moments from the fur trade, early exploration, and life in Hudson’s Bay posts across the North and West.
Among them are “Red River Carts Leaving Fort Garry,” “Trading with a Hudson’s Bay Company Ship,” and “The Spring Fur Brigade Leaves Lachine.” These works offer a visual record of a country in the making, told through the lens of art.
Auctions Beyond Art
The November auction is just the beginning. Heffel plans additional online-only sales later this year featuring less costly items such as traditional clothing, blankets, and dolls. These smaller auctions will open the door for more Canadians to own a part of the nation’s history.
Not all artifacts will go on the market, however. Twenty-four pieces believed to be of Indigenous heritage will instead be returned or donated, following recent calls from Indigenous leaders to ensure cultural respect.
Another key item, the 1670 Royal Charter that granted Hudson’s Bay Company control over vast Indigenous lands, will appear in a separate sale. Two of Canada’s wealthiest families, the Westons and the Thompsons, have expressed interest in buying it to donate to museums.
More Than Just an Auction
The proceeds will help repay nearly $1 billion owed to Hudson’s Bay creditors. Still, Heffel believes the event is about more than financial recovery. “I think it’s an important conversation in the history of our country,” he said. “It’s a complicated history, and there are still many angles to be learned and shared.”
