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.
$4,500

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

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

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

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/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 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 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..."
$5,500

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