Lady in an armchair |  Freer Gallery of Art (1893.75) | |
| Number: | 91 | |
| Date: | 1861 | |
| Medium: | drypoint | |
| Size: | 230 x 153 mm | |
| Signed: | 'Whistler.' at lower right | |
| Inscribed: | '1861.' at lower right | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Cancelled Plates', 1879 | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 19 | |
| Catalogues: | K.79; M.80 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (19) | ||
KEYWORD
cancelled plate, interior, woman seated, portrait.
TITLE
Whistler's original title is not known. There are two published titles, with a slight difference in punctuation:
'Lady in an Armchair' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)).
'Lady in an Arm-Chair (1910, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932)). 1
'Lady in an Armchair' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)).
'Lady in an Arm-Chair (1910, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932)). 1
Mansfield's version of the title has been accepted, in modified form, as Lady in an armchair.
DESCRIPTION
A half-length portrait of an elderly lady seated in an armchair, facing slightly to the right, with her right hand resting upon her lap. She has a simple white bonnet over dark hair with a central parting. She wears a light-coloured, round-necked blouse under a jacket or coat that is gathered in tightly at the waist, with narrow reveres and wide three-quarter length sleeves that reveal the sleeves of the blouse underneath.
SITTER
Not identified. The lady is not Whistler's mother who had visited London in August 1860 but not in 1861. This may have been an elderly relative of Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910), but no such subject is mentioned in extant documents.
DISCUSSION
Whistler made numerous studies or portraits of middle-aged and elderly women, i.e. La Mère Gérard 024, La Rétameuse 026, La Vieille aux Loques 027, Whistler's Mother 103.