UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

After the publication of The 'Adam and Eve', Old Chelsea [182] by the London print dealer, Hogarth, early in 1879, Whistler tried to sell Old Battersea Bridge and Old Putney Bridge. He wrote to Messrs Dowdeswell:

Messrs Dowdeswell decided not to publish the plate, but a year later, when Whistler was in Venice, they published two smaller plates, The Two Ships [143] and Tatting [130].

At first Marcus Bourne Huish (1843-1904) of the Fine Art Society had refused to publish Old Putney Bridge [185], but then relented, and followed up with Old Battersea Bridge. 25 Whistler accordingly wrote to E. G. Brown, manager of the F.A.S. on 4 August 1879:

'I will let Mr Huish have the plate of "Old Battersea Bridge" at the same price I originally asked him for the "Old Putney Bridge" - viz. one hundred & ten guineas - / I shall only stipulate for two proofs of the complete condition of the plate - keeping of course one proof of each of the preparatory or trial states for my own private collection - / The plate is a very successful piece of biting in and in perfect working order - / It will give I believe from 40 to 50 proofs without trouble - I will print the first 20 myself - If after this I think that a new state of the plate could be made, I engage to do so for another sum of 10 guineas and three more proofs -'. 26

On 6 August Huish replied:

'The price of the Battersea was to be the same as the Putney namely eighty guineas - & I understood it to be a commission - / However the plates [sic] a good one & I dont want you to grumble at us as being people who beat you down & so I will get you a check for one hundred pounds tomorrow. // [B]ut we must have all the proofs save two & you must engage not to sell any - / There is a board [meeting] today at which I can get you a check for the £124. 13. 6 if you will let me have know by five o'clock'. 27

Agreement having been reached, on 13 August 1879 Whistler sent several impressions to the F.A.S.: 'I send herewith - 8 - more p[roofs] ... I have I believe sold one of them [to] Mr Way. 21. Wellington Street. Strand -... I said I believed you would ask six guineas for the proofs - '. 28

In December 1879 (with Christmas in mind) the F.A.S. published a pretty pamphlet promoting Whistler's forthcoming (they hoped!) Venice etchings, and detailing newly published works, including Herkomer's Portrait of Mr Ruskin and The Blind Shepherd, W. Hunt's The Blessing, Greenwich by Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910), a portrait of Carlyle by Léon Richeton, Samuel Palmer's The Bellman, and engravings after Turner's Fighting Témeraire and Mrs Allingham's The Young Customers . Whistler's Old Battersea Bridge was, according to the F.A.S. 'Considered one of the best of Mr.Whistler's plates'; 25 proofs were printed by Whistler 'of which a few remain', at £6.6.0 each, and 25 Proofs printed by Frederick Goulding (1842-1909), at the same price, 'The whole signed with Mr. Whistler's Monogram.' The price was average, though larger plates like Haden's were slightly more, at £8.8.0. 29

The price corresponds to that quoted by Wedmore, who described Old Battersea Bridge as: 'One of the noblest, most spacious, most refined of Mr. Whistler's visions of the Thames. It was issued by the Fine Art Society, at £6. 6s.' 30 However, it would appear that Whistler, rather than Goulding, printed the edition.

One of the early shows was an exhibition of works in black and white at the Dudley Gallery in London in 1880. It met with fairly general approval. The Athenaeum, for instance, on 19 June 1880, asserted that 'Mr. Whistler's Old Battersea Bridge, a characteristic etching, can boast of unusual grace of line and simplicity of composition.' Another reviewer commented: 'Here is Mr Whistler back again,' which was misleading, since he was actually etching in Venice, 'and we are glad to welcome him with "Old Battersea Bridge" (314), full of the atmosphere of the river, barred by the delicate lines of shipping and the masses of the bridge'. 31

When the etching was shown in Birmingham in 1889, a reviewer compared Whistler's technique to the work of Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn (1617-1681):

A Scottish reviewer mentioned an impression loaned to a show in Peebles, praising the owner as patron and connoisseur: 'Major Thorburn has placed the association under further indebtedness by lending Whistler's ''Old Battersea Bridge'', a Thames reading of quiet beauty and careful detail.' 33

An impression appeared in an exhibition organised by the Union League Club in New York in 1881, lent by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (). 34 Impressions were shown at the Glasgow International Exhibitions: one was lent by Bernard Buchanan MacGeorge (1845?-1924) in 1888 (probably ); then another was lent by James Cox-Cox (ca 1849- d.1901) in 1901 (possibly or ). 35 Another was shown in an exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900, lent by Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) (). Several appeared in other internationals: at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, in Buffalo in 1901 and, lent by Howard Mansfield (1849-1938), in Philadelphia in 1902. 36

It was for sale in several print dealer's exhibitions, particularly by H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898 and 1903; Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought two impressions from the show ( and ). 37 Other print dealers' exhibitions included F. Keppel & Co. in New York in 1899, and Obach & Co. in London in 1903.

After Whistler's death, impressions were shown in several of the Memorial shows including the comprehensive Grolier Club exhibition in New York in 1904. Frank Lusk Babbott (1854-1903) lent an impression to the Boston show organised by the Copley Society in 1904, and Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) lent to the London show in 1905. 38

One of the earliest impressions was inscribed by Whistler, 'Trial rub - cheap! - Aug. 3. 1879 -' but it is not known who snapped up this bargain; it is now in Colby College, Maine (). At first Whistler tried to sell proofs independently. He wrote to William George Rawlinson (1840-1928): 'I have just completed the most important and picturesque etching I have yet done, and am publishing the proofs myself here - and so write to ask if you would care to go in for one - -' 39 Unfortunately this is an extract from a letter that could date from any time between January and August 1879.

The description 'important and picturesque' could be applied to The 'Adam and Eve', Old Chelsea [182], which was published by Messrs Hogarth early in 1879, or to both Old Battersea Bridge and Old Putney Bridge [185], which were published by the F.A.S. in August 1879. 40 Whistler's letter could have been written before he sold the plates to these print publishers, or he could be referring to another large etching of the period, such as Wapping - The Pool [180], which was never published.

In 1879 it was published by the Fine Art Society in London and sold at £6.6.0, and was on sale by Robert Dunthorne at the same price in 1881. 41

Apart from impressions sold by the publishers, many earlier impressions of Old Battersea Bridge were sold, the first at Whistler's bankruptcy sale at Sotheby's, 12 February 1880, being bought with two other etchings for £20.10.0, possibly by Wickham Flower (b. ca 1836), or Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890). A first state sold at auction for £1.16.0 in 1897, while one 'artist's proof' (not necessarily the first state) sold for £3.5.0 in 1887, and another - or possibly the same one - for only £3.0.0 in 1901. 42

An impression of the first state - listed as the '1st proof' - was sold by Whistler for a large amount, £15.15.0, to the print dealer Frederick Keppel (1845-1912) in 1891. 43 Whistler himself sold impressions to another dealer, Robert Dunthorne (b. ca 1851), in 1902 and 1903 for £12.12.0, suggesting he was a better salesman than the auction houses. 44

Early collectors included Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) (, ) and Thomas Way (1837-1915) (), all bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919); Leonard Gow (1859-1936) () and Bernard Buchanan MacGeorge (1845?-1924) in Scotland (), the latter also owned at one time by John Henry Wrenn (1841-1911) (). Atherton Curtis (1863-1944) was the only known collector in France (). In America early collectors included Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (); Alfred Atmore Pope (1842-1913) (); Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) (); Denman W. Ross (1852-1935) (); Mrs Scott Fitz (fl. 1910) (); Clarence Buckingham (1855-1913) (, ); Harry Brisbane Dick (1855-1916) (); Albert W. Scholle (1860-1917) (); and Margaret Selkirk Watson Parker (1867-1936) ().