Annie
Etching, 1857-58, Kennedy 10, (iv/V), edition unknown. 4 3/4 x 3 1/8 in. Signed in the plate. This is a fine, early impression of the penultimate state printed on gold-toned chine applique. The margins are wide. The condition is very good apart from a very faint suggestion of discoloration from a previous mat opening and tape reside in places, verso, not affecting the image in any way. Fourth state impressions are far more desirable than final state impressions.
SOLD

Annie
Etching, 1857 / 1858, Glasgow 7 (iv-V), Kennedy 10; "55 impressions taken from this plate". 4 5/8 x 3 1/16 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. This is a superb impression with wide margins. The condition is fine apart from subtle specks of foxing here and there and very slight toning to the sheet. This is a portrait of Annie Haden. This charming print was published in the "French Set" in 1858. This impression appears to be an intermediate state between four and five. The burnishing below the figure is pronounced and there's a faint outline of her foot which does not appear anywhere in the later states.
$2,200

Black Lion Wharf
Etching, 1859, Glasgow 54 (iv/IV); Kennedy 42 (iii/III), Glasgow cites 104 impressions. 5 7/8 x 8 3/4 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. This is a fine, strong impression printed on light cream laid paper without a watermark. The margins are most likely full with a deckle edge on three sides. The condition is excellent. This print, along with the Limeburner (Glasgow 55), are probably the two best images from the Thames Set. Black Lion Wharf was published with the rest of the set in 1871 by Ellis and Green. This is one of Whistler's most popular early etchings.
$4,000

Eagle Wharf
Etching, 1859, Glasgow 50 (i/I), Kennedy 41 (i/I); edition unknown. 5 7/16 x 8 3/8 in. Signed and dated in the plate. This is a superb, dark impression printed on light cream laid paper. The margins are wide and probably untrimmed. The condition is fine apart from a few tiny, incidental losses here and there at the sheet edges. This stellar print was published as part of the Thames Set. Eagle Wharf was in Wapping on the River Thames in London.
SOLD

Fumette
Etching, 1858, Glasgow 12 (v/V), Kennedy 13 (iv/IV); edition unknown. 6 1/2 x 4 3/8 in. Signed in the plate lower right. This is a fine impression printed on off-white laid paper. The margins are wide and the condition is quite good other than for a very faint suggestion of toning from an early mat opening. "Fumette," ("Eloise"); a working girl, a young seamstress or milliner, described in the Glasgow catalogue as a "grisette." She was also known to be a woman of vivid and fiery character.
SOLD

Greenwich Park
Etching and drypoint, 1859, Glasgow catalogue 41 (iii/III), Kennedy 35 5 x 7 15/16 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. This is a fine, rich impression printed on thin, cream Japanese paper. The margins are full. This lovely landscape print is known in 38 impressions in the Glasgow catalogue. The sitters have not been indentified.
$1,800

La Vieille au Loques (The Old Rag Woman)
Etching and drypoint, 1858, Glasgow 27 (iii/IV), Kennedy 21 (ii/III); edition unknown. 8 1/16 x 5 3/4 in. Signed in the plate, lower right, and along the bottom, Imp. Delatre, Rue St. Jacques 171. This is a very fine, lifetime impression printed with plate tone on a thin China paper. The margins are wide and the condition is very good. (There's a skillful and barely noticeable repaired split in the upper left margin which goes to the image but not within.) This early work was published in this state as part of the French Set. This was a popular print during Whistler's lifetime and that interest continues to this day.
$1,700

Limehouse
Etching and drypoint, 1859, Glasgow 48 (vi/VI), Kennedy 40 (iii/III), edition unknown. 5 x 8 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. This is a fine, dark impression of the final state, before cancellation. The paper is a cream-colored fibrous, thin Japanese. The condition is very good apart from slight lightening of the paper within an earlier mat opening. This print was published as part of Whistler's celebrated Thames Set in 1871. The plate was cancelled around 1894-95.
SOLD

Little Arthur
Etching, 1857-58, Glasgow 8 (iv/IV), Kennedy 9 (v/V); 61 impressions are noted in the Glasgow catalogue. 2 3/16 x 2 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. This is a fine dark impression printed on light cream wove paper. The margins are wide measuring about 1 to 1 3/8 in. The condition is fine apart from very slight toning along the top edge of the sheet. Although Kennedy records this as the fifth state, there are only four states as described in the online Glasgow catalogue. "The copper plate may have been reduced in size in London, and Delâtre's name removed, for the fourth state, when Whistler and Haden undertook to print the edition. It was then printed for the English edition of the 'French Set.'" There were two formal editions of the "French Set," ('Twelve Etchings from Nature'); the Paris edition of twenty impressions (3rd state), and the English edition of 50 impressions in the fourth state. The dramatic inking of the plate conveys a Rembrandt like flair of detail and shadow; successfully rendered on a very small scale.
$2,000

Longshore Men
Etching, 1859, Glasgow 52 (iii/IV); Kennedy 45 (i/I), edition unknown. 6 x 8 7/8 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. This is a fine, crisp impression printed without much plate tone. The paper is Japanese and the margins are probably full and untrimmed. Very good condition apart from a couple of ink smudges in the margin and two other tiny spots of discoloration. In this, the third state, the verticle lines through the hat of man in the back with the pipe have yet to be removed. This successful print was never part of a published set, i.e. the Thames Set, even though it fits nicely within that theme.
SOLD

Maunder's Fish Shop, Chelsea
Lithograph, 1890, Art Institute of Chicago 37 (ii/II) Way 28; edition at least 31 lifetime impressions. 7 1/2 x 7 in. Signed on the stone with the printed butterfly. Signed below with the pencil butterfly. This is a superb lifetime impression with full margins. (There's no apparent watermark.) The condition is excellent. This was a popular image for Whistler and it was later published in the Whirlwind in a large edition with a line of text added. There were an additional thirty-eight posthumous impressions printed by Goulding in 1903. Our impression is printed on an ivory laid paper and bears the red Rosaling Birnie Philip stamp (Lugt 406) indicating a lifetime impression. Whistler depicted this subject at least four times including as an oil painting now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
SOLD

Old Battersea Bridge
Lithograph, 1879 and 1887, Art Institute of Chicago 18 (ii/II), Levy 24,; edition 100. 5 7/8 x 13 in. Signed on the stone with the butterfly signature at left. This is a fine, nicely inked impression printed on greyish chine applique. The margins are wide and the condition is very good apart from faint toning at the extreme edges of the wove support sheet. This impression was published in a portfolio called "Art Notes," printed by Way and published by Boussod, Valadon and Co in 1887.
$2,000

Reading by Lamplight
Etching and drypoint, 1859, Glasgow 37 (iii/III); Kennedy 32 (ii/II), Glasgow lists forty known impressions. 6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. This is a very fine impression printed on antique cream laid paper without a watermark. The margins appear to be full and untrimmed. The condition is fine. The sitter is Deborah Haden (1825-1908), the wife of Seymour Haden.
SOLD

San Giorgio
Etching and drypoint, 1879-80, Glasgow 214 (iv/V), Kennedy 201( iii/IV); 38 impressions recorded in the Glasgow catalogue. 8 1/16 x 11 7/8 in. Unsigned. This is a fine impression before the butterfly in the plate and without a pencil signature. Trimmed along the platemark. The condition is very good. The paper bears a small fleur de lis watermark. This charming print was published as part of the Second Venice Set.
SOLD

Seymour Standing under a Tree
Etching and drypoint, 1858-1959, Glasgow 30 (ii/III), Kennedy 31 (ii/III); edition unknown. 5 1/4 x 3 7/8 in. Signed in the plate. This is a fine, early impression of the second state of three printed on cream laid paper. The margins are wide and probably full. The condition is also fine apart from a suggestion of toning in the mid margin area from an early mat. This early print is described by Katharine Lochnan as, "Whistler's first landscape etching." (See: The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler, Yale University Press, 1984; page 69.) The online Glasgow catalogue cites only 29 known impressions from this plate. (In the third state the legs have been redrawn to be closer together.)
$2,600

The Dog on the Kennel
Etching, 1858, Glasgow 19 (ii/I), Kennedy 18 (only state); 2 3/4 x 3 9/16 in. Signed in the plate, upper left. This is a fine impression printed on thin Japanese paper. The margins are wide. The condition is fine apart from slight light toning within an earlier mat opening. This rare print is in the following collections: The Victoria & Albert Museum, the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress and the Art Institute of Chicago. The plate is now in the Freer collection in Washington, DC. We sold this impression many years ago and are pleased to have it back.
$1,650

The Kitchen
Etching, 1858, Glasgow 16 (ii/III), Kenedy 24 (ii/III); 67 impressions are recorded in the Glasgow catalogue. 8 7/8 x 6 1/8 in. Signed in the plate in the lower right. This is a very fine impression printed with plate tone on chine appliqué. The margins are substantial measuring about 1 1/8" to 1 1/2" in. The condition is fine apart from a very faint suggestion of toning within an earlier mat opening and traces of an old adhesive, verso, along the top edge of the sheet. This outstanding early work by Whistler was published in the "French Set" in this state with the name and address of the printer in the lower right ("Imp. Delâtre. Rue St. Jacques. 171."). An impression of the first state has not been located by the Whistler Etchings Project. Thirty-nine impressions of this important etching are listed in museum collections and today it's considered to be an uncommon print.
SOLD

The Kitchen
Etching, 1858, Glasgow 16 (ii/II); Kennedy 24 (ii/III); Glasgow cites 67 known impressions. 9 x 6 1/4 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. This is a very fine, rich impression printed on a light cream laid paper. The margins are substantial. The condition is excellent. This outstanding, early work was published in the French Set in this state. Auguste Delâtre was the printer and his name and address appear in the plate, lower right.
SOLD

The Lime-Burner
Etching and drypoint, 1859, Glasgow 55 (ii/III), Kennedy 46 (ii/II); Glasgow mentions 103 impressions taken from the plate. 9 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. This is an exceptionally fine impression printed with carefully articulated plate tone. The paper is an antique laid with a hard to determine watermark. The margins are full and the condition is fine. This exceptional early work was published in the Thames Set in 1871. The Lime-Burner was quite popular among collectors at the time it was published and continues to be popular today. The plate was acquired by Charles Lang Freer in 1896 and bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.
SOLD

The Little Mast
Etching and drypoint, 1879-1880, Glasgow 196 (v/VIII); Kennedy 185 (iv/IV), edition 50. 10 1/2 x 7 1/4 in. Signed in the plate with the butterfly, upper right. Signed on the tab, lower left, with the pencil butterfly and "imp." This is a very fine impression printed in dark brown ink on cream-colored laid paper. There's a partial Strasbourg Lily watermark showing which appears to be # 301 in the Art Institute of Chicago catalogue of the lithographs. The condition is excellent apart from traces of two old paper hinges on the right side, verso, which are inconsequential. The printed surface is pristine. This outstanding Venice etching was published in the First Venice Set.
SOLD

The Little Pool
Etching and drypoint, 1861, Glasgow catalogue 79 (ix/IX), Kennedy 74 (viii/IX); 76 impressions cited in Glasgow. 4 x 5 in. Signed and dated in the plate. This is a fine impression with modest margins. There's a trace of old paper tape along the top edge, verso. This plate was included in the Thames Set and was published as such in this, the ninth state. This impression is a duplicate from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, and bears their stamp on the verso.
SOLD

The Music Room
Etching and drypoint, 1859, Glasgow 39 (iv/IV), Kennedy 33 (ii/II); edition at least 54. 5 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. Unsigned. This is a fine impression, selectively inked, and printed on a fine laid paper with a difficult to read watermark. The margins appear to be full and untrimmed. The condition is generally fine apart from a faint suggestion of a circular stain (?) in the right margin, well away from the image. On the left is Seymour Haden. James Reeves Traer is in the middle and Deborah Haden is at right. The Glasgow online catalogue of Whistler's etchings cites 54 known impressions of this work. Provenance: Wunderlich & Co., New York.
SOLD

The Unsafe Tenement
Etching, 1858, Glasgow 18 (iii/IV), Kennedy 17 (iii/IV); Glasgow lists 74 known impressions. 6 1/4 x 8 3/4 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed in pencil with the butterfly, lower left. This is a fine, luminous impression printed on a light cream wove paper. The margins are full and the condition is also fine. (There's some subtle inking in the lower left corner which looks like a possible fingerprint and then there's a bit of stray printer's ink to the right of the platemark.) This impression is printed with plate tone. Impressions in this third state were published in the French Set also known as "Douze Eaux-fortes d'après Nature." This impression is from the celebrated collection of B.B. MacGeorge (Lugt 394) who was especially well known for his Whistler collection; "Les estampes de Whistler, que MacGeorge possédait aussi en très belles épreuves..."
$4,500

The Venetian Mast
Etching and drypoint, 1879-80, Glasgow 219 (x/XII), Kennedy 195 (vi/VI); Glasgow states 57 impressions were taken from the plate. 13 3/8 x 6 3/8 in. Signed in the plate with the butterfly, upper left. Signed on the tab with the pencil butterfly signature. This is a fine, tonal impression in excellent condition. The sheet is trimmed to the platemark on all sides. This print was published by the Fine Art Society in the "First Venice Set" in 1880. The paper is fine antique laid with a Strasbourg Lily watermark (see # 284 in the Art Institute catalogue of Whistler lithographs, Volume 2, page 417.)
$8,500

The Wine Glass
Etching, 1859, Glasgow 38 (ii/II); Kennedy 27 (ii/II); Glasgow states forty impressions were taken from the plate. 3 1/4 x 2 1/8 in. Signed in the plate lower left. This is a superb impression printed on thin Japanese paper. The margins are apparently full and the sheet measures 6 1/2 x 4 3/8 in. The condition is fine. This stellar and unique etching is Whistler's only still life. This plate was etched in London at the home of Seymour Haden. Whistler certainly had a chance to view Haden's collection of Rembrandt etchings and it's possible that Rembrandt's "The Shell," was an inspiration for this print. (See Katharine Lochnan, "The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler," (1984), pg. 59.) "The Wine Glass" has always been a highly sought after print and the great collectors of Whistler etchings owned it. Among them are Charles Lang Freer, Philippe Burty, Joshua Hutchinson, Howard Mansfield, Harris G. Whittemore, Lessing J. Rosenwald and Peter Lunder, among others.
SOLD

Title page for the French Set (Douze Eaux Fortes d'après Nature)
Etching, 1858, Glasgow 22, Kennedy 25; (only state), edition unknown. 4 3/8 x 5 5/8 in. Signed, dated and titled in the plate. Dedicated to Seymour Haden with "a Mon Viel Ami." This is an especially fine impression printed on light cream laid paper with full margins. (The watermark, Britannia, is listed as #60 (lifetime impressions) in the Art Institute volume II on Whistler's lithographs.) The condition here is very fine. Glasgow cites 56 known impressions which makes this an uncommon print. The initials "RB" appear on the verso in ink which is not listed in Lugt.
SOLD