Sheep |  Whistler Etchings Project (-) | |
| Number: | 487 | |
| Date: | 1901 | |
| Medium: | unbitten; drawn through the ground with an etching needle | |
| Size: | 54 x 86 mm | |
| Signed: | no | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | ||
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 1 | |
| Catalogues: | K.-; M.-; T.-; W.- | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (1) | ||
The copper plate bears the partial oval stamp of the makers , 'HUGHES & KIMBER'. It is similar in size to Bohemians [486].
The plate was drawn but not etched. Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) had prepared some copper plates for Whistler before the Corsican trip, which proved unsatisfactory. Later, in 1931, Nathaniel Sparks (1880-1956) commented:
The plate was drawn but not etched. Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) had prepared some copper plates for Whistler before the Corsican trip, which proved unsatisfactory. Later, in 1931, Nathaniel Sparks (1880-1956) commented:
'The grounds laid by Pennell were far too thick, & burnt in putting on; they would have pin-holed in the acid bath - & chipped when drawn on - I removed the grounds and found them decomposed & burnt into the plates with the heat used -' 1
1: 17 June 1931, quoted in Martin Hopkinson, 'Nathaniel Sparks's Printing of Whistler's Etchings', Print Quarterly, 1999, Vol. 16, No. 4, p. 349.
This unbiitten plate was in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903, and was given by Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) to the University of Glasgow in 1935.