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218

The Piazzetta

Freer Gallery of Art
Accession no: 1902.133
State: 4/9

Collection credit:Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution  
Image credit:Photo © Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution  
Provenance:Bought from Frederick Keppel & Co., by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit, MI, 1902; bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1919.  

 

Paper size:326 x 205 mm  
Plate mark size:254 x 180 mm  
Paper trimmed to pmk?:no  
Colour of the paper:ivory  
Paper type (wove, laid, Japan etc):laid  
Note on the paper:  
Tab?:no  
Watermarks:partial Foolscap  
Medium:etching (and drypoint)  
Ink colour:black  
Additional work on the print, e.g. in pencil:no  
Print tone:Very pale tone, slightly darker at the bottom of the image  
Note on foul biting:foul biting near the plate corners, with traces of acid droplets and other plate surface disturbances near the lower right corner; there are indications of burnishing at lower right (a lighter patch in the plate tone); scratches at the top of the plate remain visible.  
Print note:The only possible drypoint appears to be on the archway under the clock; note, however, that in Kennedy's second state, there are two small patches of right-left diagonal shading on the left side of the column, above the butterfly signature--they are not present in the this impression of the third state.  

 

Whistler's sign on plate:butterfly  
Inscriptions by Whistler on the plate:no  
Inscriptions by others on the plate:no  
Whistler's signature on paper:butterfly 'imp' in the lower right margin  
Inscriptions by Whistler on the paper:no  
Tab signed/inscribed:no  
Note on the tab:  

 

Printer's signature (e.g. Goulding):no  
Notes on inscriptions:large shaded butterfly; the shading is uniform, not a series of parallel lines  
Collector's mark:no  
Dealers' stock nos:no  
Misc inscriptions by others:'Piazetta' at lower centre on the verso by C.L. Freer; 'very early trial proof / before the plate was cleaned in the foreground. / and along the right edge of the plate.' , possibly by Harold Wright; 's / ui' to left of ' Z' at lower centre on the verso; '£EH.O (with vertical line through it)' at lower right on the verso.  

 

Source of information:Whistler Etchings Project and museum records  
ID:K1890305  

All inscriptions are in graphite pencil unless otherwise stated.