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) | ||
KEYWORD
cancelled plate, clothing, dress, fashion, full-length, portrait, woman standing.
TITLE
Whistler's original title is not known. Only one title is known, as follows:
'The Silk Dress' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 2
'The Silk Dress' (1910, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932)). 3
'The Silk Dress' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 2
'The Silk Dress' (1910, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932)). 3
DESCRIPTION
A full-length portrait of a young woman standing facing left, her head turned to look at the viewer, and her left arm hanging at her side. She wears a small hat with very narrow brim, a dress with close-fitting bodice, slightly puffed sleeves, and a skirt with a broad pleated hem, and an overskirt gathered behind the waist and falling in folds into a train to right.
SITTER
Possibly Elizabeth Dawson (b. 1840).
DISCUSSION
This is one of several studies of women in fashionable dress, such as The Velvet Dress (Mrs Leyland) 120, The Little Velvet Dress 119, The Muff 131, Maud, Standing 169.