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Eagle Wharf |  Freer Gallery of Art (1898.270) | |
| Number: | 50 | |
| Date: | 1859 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 140 x 217 mm | |
| Signed: | 'Whistler.' below centre | |
| Inscribed: | '1859.' at lower centre | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Thames Set', 1871 | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 73 | |
| Catalogues: | K.41; M.40; T.40; W.39 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (73) | ||
PUBLICATION
EXHIBITIONS
After publication, it was exhibited with the collection of James Anderson Rose (1819-1890) in Liverpool and elsewhere, and in Whistler's one-man show in London in 1874. 22
Later, impressions were shown by private clubs such as the Union League Club in New York in 1881 (lent by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904)) and the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900, to which Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) lent an impression (
). 23 Other impressions starred in numerous big loan and international shows, including Philadelphia in 1879 and 1902, Dresden in 1896, Hanover in 1896, and Wolverhampton and Philadelphia in 1902. Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) lent his impression to the latter (). 24
The print dealer, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932), lent one to the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 (possibly
). 25 Several print dealer's shows included important works from major collections. Impressions from the collection of Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) and Bernard Buchanan MacGeorge (1845?-1924) were on sale by H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898 and 1903. 26
Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought a cancelled impression in a set from F. Keppel & Co., New York, in 1896 (), and an uncancelled impression from Wunderlich's in 1898 (). Another impression, possibly from the edition printed by Frederick Keppel (1845-1912), was on show at Keppel's in 1902 and a 'Trial proof' was shown by Obach & Co. in London in 1903. Impressions were also shown in the principal Memorial Exhibitions after Whistler's death, in New York, Boston and Paris, and including one lent by King Edward VII to the London exhibition in 1905. 27
20: London Thomas 1861 .
21: See REFERENCES: EXHIBITIONS.
22: Liverpool 1874 (cat. no. 497); London Pall Mall 1874 (cat. no. 13).
23: Chicago 1900 (cat. no. 37).
24: Philadelphia 1902 (cat. no. 942 (39).
25: Chicago 1893 (cat. no. 2216).
26: New York 1898 (cat. no. 36); New York 1903b (cat. no. 33).
27: New York 1904a (cat. no. 41); Boston 1904 (cat. no. 33); Paris Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 309); London Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 39).
SALES & COLLECTORS
). 28
28: V&A Register of Prints, p. 32.
29: F. Wedmore, 'M. Burty's collection', The Academy , 29 April 1876, pp. 414-415.
). Another impression, on more conventional ivory laid paper, was bought by a patron of Whistler, Arthur Haythorne Studd (1863-1919) () who bequeathed it to the B.M. in 1929 (). Finally a third impression, this time on a fibrous pale grey paper, described by the artist as an 'Early proof', was signed by Whistler for William Cleverly Alexander (1840-1916), bequeathed to his daughter, Rachel, and sold by her executors to the B.M. for a nominal amount in 1973 (). 30
One of the finest impressions of Eagle Wharf was in the 'Thames Set' acquired by Constantine Alexander Ionides (1833-1900), and bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1901 (
). It forms an interesting contrast to the good but less strong impression given by Frederick Keppel (1845-1912), to a collector, Hans Velten (1857?-1930), in 1899 (), which was bequeathed to the same Museum many years later.Other public collections benefitted from the generosity of collectors such as James Guthrie Orchar (1825-1888), whose small but select collection was left to the Orchar Gallery, Dundee and is now in the McManus Gallery (
) and James Smith (1831-1923), whose wide-ranging bequest to the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, included an impression of Eagle Wharf ().In America, Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904), acquired a signed copy from Whistler, which eventually helped to form the basis for the print collection of New York Public Library (
). Whistler also signed an impression for George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909), which joined the Lucas collection in Baltimore Museum of Art (). Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) acquired a cancelled impression in a set from Frederick Keppel & Co., New York, in 1896 (), and two years later he acquired an uncancelled impression, through Wunderlich's, from the collection of Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) (). These went with Freer's incomparable collection to the Freer Gallery of Art.30: Report of Gere, Keeper of the Print Room, 17 August 1973, Trustees' Reports, British Museum.