Etchings Institutions search term: british museum
St James's Park |  Hunterian Art Gallery (46900) | |
| Number: | 250 | |
| Date: | 1885 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 68 x 100 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at lower left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 5 | |
| Catalogues: | K.255; M.251; W.207 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (5) | ||
TECHNIQUE
St James's Park is in pure etching, with no drypoint.
PRINTING
It is very rare. However, on 4 September 1887 Whistler had a production line going, and, with some assistance, printed impressions of nine etchings: 'Scaffolding / The Steps / Miss Pettigrew / Sweet Shop / the Park / Cottage Door / Greengrocer / Rag shop / Maunders'. These including three impressions of 'The Park'. 11 The etchings on the list include Savoy Scaffolding
[317]; Little Steps, Chelsea
[269] or The Steps, Gray's Inn
[282]; 'Miss Pettigrew' may have been The Little Cloak
[370]; The Village Sweet Shop
[266]; this etching; Cottage Door
[252]; Little Greengrocer's Shop, Chelsea
[264] or T. A. Nash's Greengrocer's Shop
[298]; Old-Clothes Shop, No. 2 (The Rag Shop, Milman's Row
[290], Little Maunder's
[273], Rag Shop, Milman's Row, Chelsea
[329] or Rag Shop, St Martin's Lane
[328]); and Fish-Shop, Chelsea
[267] or Little Maunder's
[273].
11: Whistler, list, [8 February-29 September 1887], GUW #12716.
The two impressions kept by Whistler are both printed in black ink, with light tone, on ivory wove paper, one with a ''H SMITH & Son / 1824' watermark (
), and are not trimmed. Of the other impressions, one is in black ink on buff wove paper and is trimmed and signed on the tab with Whistler's butterfly and 'imp.' to show that he had printed it (). Two are in dark brown ink, one on an off-white - almost grey - laid paper, trimmed and signed as before () and the other on ivory laid paper removed from a ledger, trimmed but not signed on the tab (). It is possible that it was not trimmed by Whistler, or that it was sold without his knowledge, and therefore was not signed.
), and are not trimmed. Of the other impressions, one is in black ink on buff wove paper and is trimmed and signed on the tab with Whistler's butterfly and 'imp.' to show that he had printed it (). Two are in dark brown ink, one on an off-white - almost grey - laid paper, trimmed and signed as before () and the other on ivory laid paper removed from a ledger, trimmed but not signed on the tab (). It is possible that it was not trimmed by Whistler, or that it was sold without his knowledge, and therefore was not signed.