UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Little Court was published by Messrs Dowdeswell and Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (ca 1840- d.1892) with A Set of Twenty-six Etchings (the 'Second Venice Set') in 1886.

Whistler delivered in all 1093 prints and was paid £2.10.6 for printing each dozen prints. 10

Little Court was first exhibited at the Fine Art Society, London, in 1883. In the catalogue, written by Whistler, Little Court was accompanied by a short sentence from the London Standard: 'Merely technical triumphs.' 11 Possibly Whistler was querying the word 'merely' by demonstrating his technical 'triumphs' in this delicate, detailed work. It was ignored by the critics in 1883, except for quotations from the catalogue entry. 12

Later print dealers' shows included H. Wunderlich & Co., New York in 1883 (a reprise of the F.A.S. show), 1898, and 1903; Obach & Co., London, in 1903; and F. Keppel & Co., New York, in 1902. One impression was exhibited in Leipzig in 1895, one was lent by Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) to the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900 () and another by James Cox-Cox (ca 1849- d.1901) to the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901. 13

Impressions also appeared in the comprehensive Memorial Exhibitions after Whistler's death including the Grolier Club exhibition in New York in 1904; the Paris and London shows of 1905, the latter lent by Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934); and the Rotterdam retrospective in 1906 to which Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) lent an impression (). 14

Most impressions were sold through the publishers, Messrs Dowdeswell and Thibaudeau, or by them to dealers who sold to collectors. Messrs Dowdeswell gave an impression to the British Museum in 1887 (). Frederick Keppel (1845-1912) sold one to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) in 1887 (). Thibaudeau sold one to H. Wunderlich & Co., New York in 1888 and they sold it with a complete set in 1890 to Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) (). Whistler retained one impression, which was bequeathed by Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) to the University of Glasgow ().

Prices at auction were low. At Christie’s on 27 November 1888 (lot 172) an impression was bought by Gustave Lauser (b. ca 1841) for £1.10.0. At the Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (ca 1829 - d.1891) sale at Sotheby’s, 3 March 1892 lot 268 was bought by Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) for £3.0.0 (), and he sold it in 1905 to Freer.

Other early American collectors included Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (); George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) (); Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) (); Clarence Buckingham (1855-1913) () and Harry Brisbane Dick (1855-1916) ().