Children, Amboise |  Freer Gallery of Art (1903.211) | |
| Number: | 432 | |
| Date: | 1888 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 81 x 149 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at upper centre | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 1 | |
| Catalogues: | K.381; M.380 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (1) | ||
KEYWORD
baby, children, door, house.
TITLE
Three different titles are recorded, as follows:
'Babies Amboise' (1888, Whistler). 1
'Children Amboise' (1890/1891, Whistler). 2
'Doorway, Touraine' (1902, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932)). 3
'Children, Amboise' (1903/1935, possibly Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958)). 4
'Doorway, Touraine' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 5
'Children, Amboise' is the preferred title, and is based on Whistler's title, confirmed by his sister-in-law, Miss Birnie Philip. The title used by Mansfield and other later cataloguers is less precise although it is true that Amboise is in Touraine; their title could, however, lead to confusion between this and other doorways.
'Babies Amboise' (1888, Whistler). 1
'Children Amboise' (1890/1891, Whistler). 2
'Doorway, Touraine' (1902, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932)). 3
'Children, Amboise' (1903/1935, possibly Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958)). 4
'Doorway, Touraine' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 5
'Children, Amboise' is the preferred title, and is based on Whistler's title, confirmed by his sister-in-law, Miss Birnie Philip. The title used by Mansfield and other later cataloguers is less precise although it is true that Amboise is in Touraine; their title could, however, lead to confusion between this and other doorways.
1: List, [August 1887/1888], GUW #13233.
2: List, [1890/1891], GUW #13236.
3: Kennedy 1902 (cat. no. 329).
4: Envelope containing copper plate, University of Glasgow.
5: Mansfield 1909 (cat. no. 380).
DESCRIPTION
Two children, one holding a baby, are sitting on the pavement in front of an open doorway at far right. At left is a window, the right half of which is open, and a curtain with frilled edge is seen behind the panes at left. The window has louvred shutters open at each side.
SITE
Amboise is a commune east of Tours in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France, where an 11th century chateau guarded a vital bridge over the Loire. By 1873, having changed hands many times, it was in some disrepair and a major effort to repair it was made by Louis-Philippe’s heirs.
DISCUSSION
A similar composition is seen in Petticoat Lane [299]. Without the title, it would be impossible to identify the nationality of the children or the site.