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Sets and Series

The 'Houndsditch', 'East End' or 'Little London' Set

Date

The Houndsditch etchings were not published as a set but form a distinctive group, etched in 1887 and 1888.
Whistler worked in the East End of London, in Houndsditch, around Petticoat Lane and the Clothes Exchange, in the autumn of 1887. The Sunday Times reported on 13 January 1888: 'Mr Whistler has lately finished a number of very beautiful etchings, having selected his subjects in Brussels, Ostend, and actually Houndsditch. In the poor Jewish quarters of the East End, the artist has discovered the picturesque, and the results are exquisite.' 1

1: Anon., Sunday Times, London, 13 January 1888 (GUL PC9, p. 54)

[comparative image]
Much of this area has been redeveloped and some, redecorated.
The set consisted of street scenes (i.e. After the Sale, Clothes Exchange, Houndsditch [357]), markets (i.e. Clothes-Exchange, Houndsditch. No. 2 [359]) and shop fronts (i.e. Melon Shop, Houndsditch [355]). It appears to comprise Clothes-Exchange, Houndsditch. No. 1 [358], Clothes-Exchange, Houndsditch. No. 2 [359], Fleur-de-lis Passage [360], St James's Place, Houndsditch [255], Nut Shop, St James's Place, Houndsditch [356], Cutler Street, Houndsditch [361], Melon Shop, Houndsditch [355] and After the Sale, Clothes Exchange, Houndsditch [357].
Impression: K2870203
Clothes-Exchange, Houndsditch. No. 1 [358]
Impression: K2880102
Clothes-Exchange, Houndsditch. No. 2 [359]
Impression: K2890202
Fleur-de-lis Passage [360]
Impression: K2900102
St James's Place, Houndsditch [255]
Impression: K2910203
Nut Shop, St James's Place, Houndsditch [356]
Impression: K2920202
Cutler Street, Houndsditch [361]
Impression: K2930202
Melon Shop, Houndsditch [355]
Impression: K2940102
After the Sale, Clothes Exchange, Houndsditch [357]

SITE

Whistler worked in the Jewish area of the East End of London, around Petticoat Lane, seeking out the small shops- a nut shop, tobacconist's, a melon shop and of course, the stalls of the old clothes' market. This area was badly bombed in World War II, and has been mostly re-developed, sometimes dramatically, as in the area of Cutler Street (see below).
[comparative image]
Cutler Street, 2011.
Impression: K2920202
Cutler Street, Houndsditch [361]
However, a few corners of the old streets survive, including the lower end of Fleur de Lys Passage, illustrated below.
[comparative image]
Fleur de Lys Passage, 2011.
Impression: K2890202
Fleur-de-lis Passage [360]

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

REVIEWS

Cuttings, annotated by Whistler's secretary, in Whistler's press-cutting books, Special Collections, Glasgow University Library (GUL PC9).
  • Anon., Newcastle Leader, 17 August 1887 (PC9, p. 1).
  • Anon., 'Black and White Exhibition', Standard, London, 25 December 1887 (GUL PC9, p. 47).
  • Anon., Court and Society Review, 7 December 1887 (GUL PC9, p. 54).
  • Anon., Sunday Times, London, 13 January 1888 (GUL PC9, p. 54).
  • Anon., Home and Colonial Mail, 20 January 1888 (GUL PC9, p. 55). (same text as Sunday Times).

REFERENCES

  • Kennedy, Edward G., The Etched Work of Whistler, New York, 1910 (cat. nos. 295-302.
  • Lochnan, Katharine A., The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1984, chap. 4.
  • Mansfield, Howard, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etchings and Dry-Points of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Chicago, 1909 (cat. nos. 290-297).