The Slipper |  Hunterian Art Gallery (46715) | |
| Number: | 43 | |
| Date: | 1859 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 120 x 80 mm | |
| Signed: | 'Whistler -' at lower right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 2 | |
| Known impressions: | 26 | |
| Catalogues: | K.28; M.28; T.29; W.29 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (26) | ||
PUBLICATION
The Slipper was never published.
EXHIBITIONS
It was first exhibited with the collection of James Anderson Rose (1819-1890) in Liverpool and elsewhere in 1874. 19 Impressions were exhibited in private clubs, for the connoisseur and collector, two states being lent by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) to the Union League Club in New York in 1881 (
, ) and one by Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) to the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900. 20
Impressions were for sale in print dealer's shows, for instance at H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898 and 1903, and at Obach & Co. in London in 1903. In both Obach's and Wunderlich's, first and second states were on show, showing the radical reworking of the etching. 21 At Wunderich's in 1898, both impressions were bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) (, ).
Finally, impressions were shown after Whistler's death in the Grolier Club in New York in 1904 and the London Memorial show (lent by King Edward VII) in 1905. 22
, ) and one by Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) to the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900. 20 Impressions were for sale in print dealer's shows, for instance at H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898 and 1903, and at Obach & Co. in London in 1903. In both Obach's and Wunderlich's, first and second states were on show, showing the radical reworking of the etching. 21 At Wunderich's in 1898, both impressions were bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) (
, ).Finally, impressions were shown after Whistler's death in the Grolier Club in New York in 1904 and the London Memorial show (lent by King Edward VII) in 1905. 22
19: Liverpool 1874 (cat. no. 518).
20: New York 1881 (cat. nos. 43-44); Chicago 1900 (cat. no. 29).
21: New York 1898 (cat. no. 28). See REFERENCES: EXHIBITIONS.
22: New York 1904a (cat. no. 31); London Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 29).
SALES & COLLECTORS
Collectors and collections aiming at completeness rather than quality acquired both states. For instance, two impressions of the first state were acquired by the British Museum in 1868 and one of the second in 1872 (, , ). Similarly, impressions of both states were bought in the 1870s by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (, ) and in 1898, impressions from the collection of the sitter's husband, Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910), were bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) from Wunderlich's (, ).
, , ). Similarly, impressions of both states were bought in the 1870s by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (, ) and in 1898, impressions from the collection of the sitter's husband, Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910), were bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) from Wunderlich's (, ).
James Anderson Rose (1819-1890) had two states of The Slipper, shown in a travelling exhibition in 1874 as 'Reading in Bed' and sold at Sotheby's in a three-day sale from 27 June 1876 (lots 685-685). Prices were low. An impression of the second state sold from the collection of the late Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (ca 1829 - d.1891) in 1892 for £0.5.0; another fetched £0.13.0 in 1896 and a job lot of Annie and Reading in Bed was bought for £0.16.0 in 1897 by 'Parsons' - possibly A. J. Parsons (1857-1935). 23
23: Sotheby's, 3 March 1892 (lot 76), 15 December 1896 (lot 268); Christie's, 17-22 February 1897 (lot 53).
Early collectors included Percy Thomas (1846-1922) (); Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) by 1881 (, ); George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) (); Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) (); Mrs T. H. Riches (dates unknown) (); Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) (); Harry Brisbane Dick (1855-1916) () and Charles Deering (1852-1927) ().
); Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) by 1881 (, ); George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) (); Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) (); Mrs T. H. Riches (dates unknown) (); Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) (); Harry Brisbane Dick (1855-1916) () and Charles Deering (1852-1927) ().