The Two Ships |  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (1943.3.8481) | |
| Number: | 143 | |
| Date: | 1875 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 207 x 133 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at lower left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | Fine Art Society | |
| No. of States: | 5 | |
| Known impressions: | 17 | |
| Catalogues: | K.148; M.146; W.116 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (17) | ||
STATE
Three states are known.
State 1
Signed with a butterfly at lower left.
The composition is complete. The hulls of the boats are pale.
State 2
Strong curved drypoint lines are added on the ships' sterns; the reflections are strengthened and extended; more shading and rigging are added on the distant shipping and warehouses.
State 3
Short diagonal lines shade the sides of the small boat to left of the two ships in the foreground; diagonal and long curving lines shade the bow and stern of the ship in the centre; vertical shading is added on the warehouse at far right; a patch of slightly slanting lines indicates clouds at left.
State 4
More shading is added to the small boat's reflection; light vertical shading is added above the dark part of the hull, on the stern of the ship to right.
State 5
Neat vertical shading is added on the upper part of each stern, and additional diagonal shading below; the vertical shading above the dark area on the hull at right has been removed or faded; the reflections between and in front of the ships are darkened and extended; the stern and sides of the small boat at left are strongly outlined and more shading is added; another warehouse is added at right behind the existing one; the ghostly remains of a mast and rigging at left are removed and replaced by a barge in mid-stream with half-furled sails; the foul biting in the bottom right corner is removed.