The Dog on the Kennel |  Hunterian Art Gallery (46700) | |
| Number: | 19 | |
| Date: | 1858 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 72 x 91 mm | |
| Signed: | 'Whistler' at upper right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 2 | |
| Known impressions: | 20 | |
| Catalogues: | K.18; M.18; T.20; W.8 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (20) | ||
TECHNIQUE
It is pure etching, using linear techniques similar to those used in The Unsafe Tenement [18]: short dashes and dots on the dog, patches of shading, zigzag lines and cross-hatching for shadows, and some longer, widely spaced shading to represent the wall of the building and kennel.
PRINTING
Auguste Delâtre (1822-1907), printed some impressions in Paris, until the summer of 1859 when the plate was returned to London. 14 Presumably these included impressions of the first state. One was printed in black ink on cream wove paper (
), one in dark brown on 'modern' (post-1800) cream laid (), and one in black on ivory 'modern' laid (). The latter was acquired by Philippe Burty (1830-1890), in Paris, confirming that it was printed in Paris. However, another impression acquired in Paris by George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) and printed in black ink on dark ivory wove paper appears to be of the second state (). However, it is possible that the plate was sometimes underinked, and that this may still be a first state. Likewise an early impression acquired by Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) appears underinked or to be a second state (); it is in black ink on Japanese wove paper.
), one in dark brown on 'modern' (post-1800) cream laid (), and one in black on ivory 'modern' laid (). The latter was acquired by Philippe Burty (1830-1890), in Paris, confirming that it was printed in Paris. However, another impression acquired in Paris by George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) and printed in black ink on dark ivory wove paper appears to be of the second state (). However, it is possible that the plate was sometimes underinked, and that this may still be a first state. Likewise an early impression acquired by Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) appears underinked or to be a second state (); it is in black ink on Japanese wove paper.14: F. S. Haden to A. Delâtre, 29 June [1859], GUW#13140.
Whistler, or Whistler and Haden and/or Delâtre may have continued to print it in London. The plate was steel-faced and it is quite likely that it was printed at a later date, not by Whistler, possibly posthumously, between 1903 and 1906 when Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought the copper plate.
Impressions are mostly in black ink, some in a warmer black or black that on ivory paper now looks brown () and a few in brown ink (). The papers include wove, printed in dark brown ink () and in black (). Others are on laid paper, including one on an ivory laid paper with a Pro Patria watermark, removed from a book or ledger (). Most impressions were wiped fairly clean (, ) though some have a light overall tone (, ).
) and a few in brown ink (). The papers include wove, printed in dark brown ink () and in black (). Others are on laid paper, including one on an ivory laid paper with a Pro Patria watermark, removed from a book or ledger (). Most impressions were wiped fairly clean (, ) though some have a light overall tone (, ).