The Little Velvet Dress |  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (1943.3.8465) | |
| Number: | 119 | |
| Date: | 1873 | |
| Medium: | drypoint | |
| Size: | 166 x 122 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Cancelled Plates', 1879 | |
| No. of States: | 3 | |
| Known impressions: | 27 | |
| Catalogues: | K.106; M.106; W.92 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (27) | ||
The Little Velvet Dress probably dates from 1873. Whistler wrote 'The little Velvet dress' and '73 -' for Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) on one impression (
). It is not absolutely certain that this date was written at the time. However, the butterfly signature suggests a date of 1873 or 1874, and it is likely that this drypoint was exhibited in 1874. 1
Dating from Whistler's depiction of dress is tricky; this could date from 1873 or a little later. By 1875, although dresses still had prominent trains gathered in behind the waist, skirts were gathered in tightly at the front, making walking and sitting difficult.
). It is not absolutely certain that this date was written at the time. However, the butterfly signature suggests a date of 1873 or 1874, and it is likely that this drypoint was exhibited in 1874. 1 Dating from Whistler's depiction of dress is tricky; this could date from 1873 or a little later. By 1875, although dresses still had prominent trains gathered in behind the waist, skirts were gathered in tightly at the front, making walking and sitting difficult.
1: Possibly London Pall Mall 1874 (cat. nos. 6 or 22, et seq.) 'Dry Point, Portrait'.