Arched doorway with figures and a tree |  Hunterian Art Gallery (55586) | |
| Number: | 489 | |
| Date: | 1901 | |
| Medium: | unbitten; drawn with an etching needle through ground that has been removed | |
| Size: | 210 x 286 mm | |
| Signed: | no | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 1 | |
| Catalogues: | K.-; M.-; T.-; W.- | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (1) | ||
Arched doorway with figures and a tree was probably drawn in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica, where Whistler was convalescing from February to April 1901. However, it could have been drawn in Paris, where Whistler was working in the mid-1890s.
The copper plate manufacturer was C. Servant, whose address was 45 Boulevard des Grands Augustines. The copper plate bears the stamp of 'C. SERVANT / PLANEUR / 45, B DES GDS AUGUSTINS', which is found on only a few plates. They are mostly Paris subjects dating from the 1890s including A building with an arched window [476],
Sunflowers, Marché St Germain, Paris [437], Under the Statue, Luxembourg Gardens [464],
Mme Pelletier, Blanchisserie, Paris [481] and
Café Corazza, Paris [484], plus two Corsican subjects, Sleeping Child, Ajaccio [488]
and Flaming Forge [490], dating from 1901.
This copper plate was neither completed nor printed by Whistler, which suggests it was of late date. It is known Whistler had trouble with his Corsican copper plates (see Sleeping Child, Ajaccio [488]).
The plate was bequeathed to Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) who gave it to the Hunterian Art Gallery in 1935. It was 'taken by Robert Cox for printing' in 1969, and the sole extant impression was probably printed at that time. 1
1: Note initialled and dated 'RS.12.VI.69', Hunterian Art Gallery.