UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

ceramics, dog, market, people, shop-front, stall, street.

There are several variations in the spelling of the same title, as follows:


'Quai de Montebello' (1890s, Whistler). 2
'Qui de Montabello' [sic] (1889, Whistler). 3
'Quai de Montobello - Paris' [sic] (1890/1892, Beatrice Whistler (1857-1896)). 4
'Quai de Montebello' (1898, Wunderlich's). 5
'Quai de Montebello' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 6


Whistler's original title, spelt correctly, is 'Quai de Montebello' and this was accepted by later cataloguers.

A row of at least four small shops with awnings, in front of a larger building (the windows of the second and third storey are visible). In the first shop, at left, two women are seated, with a large dog lying in front of them. Next is a stall selling vases, plates and picture frames, followed by a stall with people standing in front, also with a mixture of pictures and pots; over the awning is a sign reading, rather indistinctly, 'BQue DE COMPAS'. In the stall at right two women and a man are looking at the goods, possibly more pots. At far right is the start of a one-storey building - possibly a chapel - with a round window. In the bottom left corner, in rather faint mirrored script, is the name 'Quai de Montebello'.

The Quai de Montebello is on the left bank of the Seine, south of the Ile de la Cité, in Paris, France. 7 Most of it was demolished and redeveloped shortly after Whistler made this etching. The sign over the awning may be an abbreviation of Boutique de Compas (Compass shop?); it looks like a shop selling prints, pictures and bric-a-brac.