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46

Thames Warehouses

Freer Gallery of Art
Accession no: 1905.104
State: 3/5

Collection credit:Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution  
Image credit:Photo © Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution  
Provenance:Given by Whistler to his mother. Sold by Obach and Co., London dealer, June 1905; bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit, MI, 1905; bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1919.  

 

Paper size:268 x 364 mm  
Plate mark size:76 x 202 mm  
Paper trimmed to pmk?:no  
Colour of the paper:cream  
Paper type (wove, laid, Japan etc):laid  
Note on the paper:'modern' (post 1800) medium weight laid ; little debris - even distribution, vertical chain lines  
Tab?:no  
Watermarks:Top of crowned shield with two flowers and crescent moon in crown; same as on 1898.268 (K.38)  
Medium:etching  
Ink colour:black  
Additional work on the print, e.g. in pencil:no  
Print tone:no  
Note on foul biting:Scattered flecks and patches of foul biting thoughout image; work over boat in foreground and docked barge behind it appears to go beyond foul bite and to be some sort of intentional tonal work.  
Print note:Check to make sure fine lines of figure on boat at left that appear are not drypoint; they probably are partly scraped out etched lines as there was clear evidence of scraping around them in state 1. Tonal work (sand or salt grain? open bite?) on foreground boat shows evidence of stopping out (or burnishing??) to create contrasting white areas; barge behind it has areas of regular dots that resemble softground (this regular work may extend below onto foreground boat?) as well as a patch of burnishing or stopping-out.  

 

Whistler's sign on plate:'Whistler.'  
Inscriptions by Whistler on the plate:'1859.' and, on buildings, 'FREDK [superscript 'K'] VINK & Co [superscript 'o'] / ROPE & SAIL MAKERS', 'SMITH & SON. / HERMITAGE COAL WHARF', 'HO[A]RES WHARF'  
Inscriptions by others on the plate:no  
Whistler's signature on paper:See inscriptions.  
Inscriptions by Whistler on the paper:'For Mother / from J. Whistler' on recto; 'Ware houses on Thames' on verso.  
Tab signed/inscribed:no  
Note on the tab:  

 

Printer's signature (e.g. Goulding):no  
Notes on inscriptions:Graphite inscription"Warehouses on Thames" on verso appears to be in JMW's hand--double check; ms gives Whistler wrote in pencil, recto: For Mother from J. Whistler Freer wrote in pencil, recto: W 35 "Thames Warehouses"- Obach & Co. June, 1905. No mount. Unidentified writing in pencil, verso: "Warehouses on Thames" M. Smith wrote in pencil, verso 05.104 K.38  
Collector's mark:no  
Dealers' stock nos:no  
Misc inscriptions by others:'W 35 'Thames Warehouses'- Obach & Co. June, 1905.' and 'No mount' on recto.  

 

Source of information:Whistler Etchings Project and museum records  
ID:K0380204  

All inscriptions are in graphite pencil unless otherwise stated.