UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

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The Fish Shop, Venice

Impression: Hunterian Art Gallery
Hunterian Art Gallery
(46880)
Number: 226
Date: 1879/1880
Medium: etching and drypoint
Size: 131 x 223 mm
Signed: butterfly at left and upper left
Inscribed: no
Set/Publication: no
No. of States: 9
Known impressions: 18
Catalogues: K.218; M.215; W.188
Impressions taken from this plate  (18)

STATE

Eleven states are known before cancellation.

State 1

Impression: K2180102
Signed with a butterfly very faintly at upper left, on the opened shutter of the small window, and with another butterfly on the wall below.
There is a seated figure in the interior of the fish shop at right.

State 2

Impression: K2180301
Short vertical lines are added near the upper edge of the image at left and right; the window opening at left is more heavily shaded; the seated figure and other details in the lower three-quarters of the fish shop are removed; dark shading under the arch of the bridge at top is worn or mostly removed; patches of fine short horizontals and fine curving horizontal lines are added to the water in the foreground.

State 3

Impression: K2180202
Shading is added to the pavement, walls and figures within the passageway; the standing woman at centre in the passageway now has facial features; a man with a beard, wearing a hat with a high crown and broad brim, is seated in the fish shop, and there is a smaller standing figure to his left; considerable new detail and shading are added to the shop interior; shading is added on and below the shop's right window frame; diagonal lines in both directions are added under the arch of the bridge; the patches of short horizontals on the water are strengthened and more are added at left.

State 4

Impression: K2180103
The seated man with the beard and high-crowned hat is removed and replaced with another seated figure, lightly sketched in drypoint.

State 5

Impression: K2180402
The lightly sketched figure, short figure and other details in the shop interior are removed and replaced with a new etched seated figure wearing a large brimmed hat; most of the fine shading on the pavement within the archway has been removed or worn away; much of the shading on the figures and walls near the front of the archway has been removed.
The impression illustrated has many additions in ink, wash and graphite pencil. These include short vertical lines along the entire top edge; shading on the figures, walls and lantern within the archway; the outlines of two other figures within the shop; shading on the shop rafters and interior; shading on the bridge and wall above it; and heavy diagonal lines under the arch of the bridge. There is a water stain or errant drop of wash on the shutter at left.

State 6

Impression: K2180507
Two patches of drypoint shading are added to the wall beyond the archway; considerable new shading is added to the right wall of the archway; the woman at centre now has large eyes, and appears to hold a tray or basket, and there is more shading on her skirt; the two men standing between the woman at centre and the wall are shaded and now appear in silhouette; inside the fish shop, the rafters are heavily shaded and the lamp and shadows redrawn; a small standing figure and a woman behind a counter are added to the left of the seated figure.

State 7

Impression: K2180502
The tray or basket in front of the woman at centre is removed, along with some shading on her skirt beneath it; the shading at top, left and upper right of the archway is reduced in strength.

State 8

Impression: K2180601
The woman at the centre of the archway and the two figures between her and the wall have been removed and are redrawn; both the woman's feet are dark; fine shading is added to the top, left and upper right of the archway; the lantern at the centre of the archway has been reduced in size; fine shading is added to the rafters inside the fish shop, and there is shading around the seated figure; the shape of the lamp and the objects on the top shelf in the shop interior are redefined; hair and faint facial features are added to the woman behind the counter; heavy diagonal shading is added under the arch of the bridge at the top and left.

State 9

Impression: K2180602
The dark lines below the skirt of the woman at the centre of the archway, which represent her feet, have been removed or reduced in strength.

State 10

Impression: K2180503
The hair of the woman behind the counter in the shop now appears to have a centre parting, and there is stronger shading to the right of her head; the right side of the seated man's hat is shaded; fine, long, left to right diagonal lines (\\\) are added to the shading under the arch of the bridge; several series of vertical lines are added to the water, just below the waterline.

State 11

Impression: K2180701
The head of the woman behind the counter in the shop is altered, and her hair appears to be worn in a bun on the top of her head.

State 11 (cancelled)

Etching: PS_K218_01 (plate)
Cancelled with one diagonal line.

No impression from the cancelled plate is known. This is a digital image based on the copper plate. 7

7: A scan of the copper plate was flipped horizontally, converted to greyscale, and colour inverted, with enhanced contrast.