Etchings Institutions search term: hunterian art gallery
The Little Hat |  Hunterian Art Gallery (46954) | |
| Number: | 366 | |
| Date: | 1887 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 100 x 67 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 8 | |
| Catalogues: | K.335; M.331 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (8) | ||
TECHNIQUE
The plate for The Little Hat was executed primarily in etching, but Whistler added two series of parallel diagonal drypoint lines to the right of the figure's head and neck, to fill in some gaps in the shading. Because the plate was so lightly etched, it is very difficult to distinguish the drypoint lines without considerable magnification, and for all intents and purposes, it is an etching.
The figure was drawn with sparing lines, emerging from an unevenly shaded background, made up of patches of shading and cross-hatching - closely worked around the head and hat, and more widely spaced in the background.
PRINTING
There was only a small print-run of The Little Hat. On 18 July 1889 a list of proofs in stock in Whistler's studio included 'The Hat 5'
. 8 Some impressions can be dated by the pencil signature on the tab to 1887 or 1888 (i.e. 
).
). 8: List, GUW #13235.
All impressions look rather pale, mainly because the lines are so lightly etched. Despite the limited numbers, they were printed in a range of ink colours and paper types, including rather pale black ink on ivory laid paper (); black on ivory laid watermarked 'PRO PATRIA' paper (); brown ink on ivory laid paper from a book (); grey/brown ink on ivory laid (); and dark brown ink on cream laid paper (). Most are trimmed to the platemark and signed on the tab with a butterfly and 'imp.' to show that Whistler printed them, but two remaining in the artist's estate were trimmed but not signed (, ).
); black on ivory laid watermarked 'PRO PATRIA' paper (); brown ink on ivory laid paper from a book (); grey/brown ink on ivory laid (); and dark brown ink on cream laid paper (). Most are trimmed to the platemark and signed on the tab with a butterfly and 'imp.' to show that Whistler printed them, but two remaining in the artist's estate were trimmed but not signed (, ).