The Silk Dress |  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (1949.5.539) | |
| Number: | 151 | |
| Date: | 1875 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 209 x 134 mm | |
| Signed: | no | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Cancelled Plates', 1879 | |
| No. of States: | 2 | |
| Known impressions: | 18 | |
| Catalogues: | K.107; M.115 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (18) | ||
TECHNIQUE
The plate was executed in etching and drypoint. The subject was drawn with repeated outlines - even her chin has several outlines - and the front of her skirt is expressed with five and more long slightly curved strokes of the needle. The folds of the train are drawn with two to five repeated lines, with a more dynamic, jagged quality. The shading on her hat and hair is softened by burr in the early impressions (i.e. 
).
).PRINTING
Only two impressions of The Silk Dress are known before cancellation. One of the first state was printed in black ink on cream 'modern' (post-1800) laid paper with a De Erven De Blauw watermark () and one of the second state on ivory laid paper removed from a book, with an old ink inscription on the verso ().
) and one of the second state on ivory laid paper removed from a book, with an old ink inscription on the verso ().Impressions from the cancelled plate (there may have been an edition of twenty or more) were printed in black ink, some on cream 'modern' laid Van Gelder watermarked paper (, ), for publication by the Fine Art Society in 1879.
, ), for publication by the Fine Art Society in 1879.