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Wapping - The Pool

Impression: Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art
(1892.21)
Number: 180
Date: 1878/1879
Medium: etching and drypoint
Size: 189 x 279 mm
Signed: butterfly at lower left (4-final)
Inscribed: no
Set/Publication: no
No. of States: 8
Known impressions: 14
Catalogues: K.174; M.171; W.143
Impressions taken from this plate  (14)

STATE

Eight states are known before cancellation.

State 1

Etching: K1740102
There is no signature or inscription.
The composition is complete.
The side of the barge next to that containing the men is not shaded.

State 2

Etching: K1740202
Shading is added on the two barges to right of the manned barge; drypoint lines are added on the scaffolding at upper left; short strokes of drypoint strengthen the distant buildings behind the sailing ship to right of centre.

State 3

Etching: K1740302
Short vertical lines are added on the hold of the nearest barge at left, below the dock; diagonal shading in drypoint is added on the two barges to right of the manned barge; the shading on the houses at upper right is extended; new clouds are added lightly in drypoint at upper right; more detail and shading is added on the houses at left.

State 4

Etching: K1740405
Signed with a butterfly at lower left.
Roofs, shading and other details are added on the buildings at the extreme left; stays and rigging are added on the tallest sailing ship moored in the river; new lines cross earlier shading on the barges; the cargo (sacks) is added in the nearest barge; short lines shade the scaffolding at left; the rigging and shading on the sailing ships is augmented with short drypoint lines; there is foul biting throughout the print, particularly at the bottom and left.

State 5

Etching: K1740408
Four diagonal and three slanting lines are added in drypoint on the nearest barge, below the corner of the dock; light slanting lines shade the clouds to right of the tall sailing ships.

State 6

Etching: K1740403
Two more diagonal lines are added in drypoint on the barge below the dock; light drypoint shading is added above the clouds to right of the rightmost tall ship; some of the earlier drypoint is fading.
In the impression reproduced there is a spot of foxing above the moored sailing ships.

State 7

Etching: K1740501
The sailing boat or barge in midstream now has a topmast with a pennant, and the sail is fully shaded; new drypoint shading is added on the buildings at right; higher clouds are added lightly at upper left; some of the foul biting has been removed.

State 8

Etching: K1740702
Drypoint additions include the clouds, which have been extended and redrawn, with patches of shading added both left and right of the tall ships; the barge in the foreground at far right is redefined and the hull is shaded; behind it, the bow of the furthest barge has additional outlines and shading.

State 8 (cancelled)

Etching: PS_K174_01
Cancelled with a diagonal line.

No impression from the cancelled plate is known. This is a digital image based on the copper plate. 9

9: A scan of the copper plate was flipped horizontally, converted to greyscale, and colour inverted, with enhanced contrast.