The Wine Glass |  Freer Gallery of Art (1888.21) | |
| Number: | 38 | |
| Date: | 1859 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 83 x 55 mm | |
| Signed: | 'Whistler' at lower left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 2 | |
| Known impressions: | 40 | |
| Catalogues: | K.27; M.27; T.28; W.31 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (40) | ||
TECHNIQUE
It is pure etching, with complex use of line, shading and cross-hatching creating a sparkling, dramatic image.
PRINTING
The first state is rare, with only four impressions located. One of these is printed in black ink on off-white laid paper with an unusual watermark, a crowned circular shield with fesse dancetté 19 and possibly a lion rampant (
).
).19: A deeply indented zigzag line of partition.
There are far more impressions of the second state and there may have been an unusually large print run print-run of at least 30 impressions. Most of these have little provenance, or their known history starts long after Whistler's death, and it is possible some of these were printed posthumously. However, the standard appears to have been maintained, and the copper plate did not, apparently, deteriorate.
Apart from one impression in brown () most are in black ink, occasionally on Japanese (, ) or wove western paper (). The majority are on laid paper, cream (), 'modern' (post-1800) with a partial watermark, 'IV 1802' () and 'antique' (). Others are on ivory laid paper (,
) including 'antique' () and watermarked papers such as 'PRO PATRIA' (), and 'KF' ().
) most are in black ink, occasionally on Japanese (, ) or wove western paper (). The majority are on laid paper, cream (), 'modern' (post-1800) with a partial watermark, 'IV 1802' () and 'antique' (). Others are on ivory laid paper (,
) including 'antique' () and watermarked papers such as 'PRO PATRIA' (), and 'KF' ().