Arthur Haden
Drypoint, 1859, Kennedy 61, (i/III). Exceedingly rare in this state. 9 x 5 15/16 in. This is a superb impression printed on china paper, before the signature and date. The margins are wide and probably untrimmed. The condition is very good. There is a small speck of foxing on the platemark, left side, center, and a small break in the paper, lower left, most likely from the printing process. This exceptional proof impression is a remarkable example of Whistler's ability to capture likeness and personality with great ease and spontaneity. Ex-collection: W.B. Dickerman, New York. (See Lugt 673.) Another first state impression is in the Freer Collection in Washington.
SOLD

Becquet
Drypoint, 1859, edition unknown, Kennedy 52 (iv/IV). 10 x 7 5/8 in. Unsigned. This is fine, dark impression printed with plate tone on a very thin Japanese paper. The margins are wide and this appears to be the full, uncut sheet. The condition is very good other then some slight discoloration from a previous mat opening. There is a small repair in the upper right corner margin well away from the image. This wonderful portrait was published as part of the Thames Set.
SOLD

C.L. Drouet, Sculptor
Etching and drypoint, 1859, Glasgow 3 (ii/II, restored), Kennedy 55 (ii/II), edition unknown. 8 3/4 x 6 in. Signed, dated and titled in the plate. This is a good albeit late impression after the cancellation marks have been removed. The paper is a white wove and the margins are wide and probably full.
SOLD

Fanny Leyland
Drypoint, 1873, Kennedy 108, (iv/VI), extremely rare in any state. 7 3/4 x 5 1/8 in. Signed in the plate with the butterfly. This is a fine impression of a very rare print. The margins are probably full with a deckle on three sides. The paper is 17th century laid with an old ink inscription, verso. The condition is very good. There is a tiny bit of insect damage in the margin way left and the trace of an old verticle centercrease. Ex-collection: W.B. Dickerman, New York (See Lugt 673.)
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

Long Venice
Etching with drypoint, 1879-80, Glasgow 211 (viii/VIII); Kennedy 212 (v/V), edition 36. 5 x 11 15/16 in. Signed in the plate with the butterfly. Signed in pencil on the tab, lower left. This is a very fine impression printed on cream laid paper without a watermark. The condition is excellent. This exceptional panorama of the Grand Canal was published by Messrs Dowdeswell and Thibaudeau as part of "A Set of Twenty-six Etchings" (the 'Second Venice Set') in 1886.
SOLD

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

Thames Police
Etching and drypoint, 1859, Glasgow 53, (v/v), Kennedy 44, (iii/III); edition unknown. 6 x 8 15/16 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. This is a very good impression as published in the Thames Set. The paper is a thin Japanese and the margins are probably full. (The condition is very good apart from slight toning in the outer extremities of the margins.) Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, NY (their label) and Tracy Dows (Lugt 2427).
SOLD

The Beggars
Etching and drypoint, 1879-1880, Kenedy 194 (ix/IX), Glasgow 190 (xvii/XVII); 57 known impressions cited in Glasgow. 12 x 8 1/4 in. Unsigned. This is a very fine, dramatic impression printed in 1903 by Frederick Goulding. The paper is a cream, fine laid with a strasbourg lily watermark. The margins appear to be full and untrimmed. "The Beggars" is from Whistler's First Venice Set (A Series of Twelve Etchings). The Glasgow online catalogue of Whistler's etchings does a remarkable job sorting through the seventeen described states which is considerably more than the nine listed by Kennedy. Frederick Goulding, the master printed, was asked to fill out the edition of this print not long after Whistler died. (Goulding printed 22 proofs to complete the project.) Our impression is inscribed on the verso in ink, "F. Goulding, Printer, Nov. 27, 1903." The Glasgow catalogue states, "These last proofs, closely modelled on Whistler's, are fine examples of Goulding's work, dramatic in their use of ink tone to enhance the etched lines. They show the plates had survived in fine condition, and draw to an end the epic history of Whistler's Beggars." The plate was subsequently cancelled.
SOLD

The Forge
Drypoint, 1861, Kennedy 68, (iv/IV), edition unknown. 7 1/2 x 12 1/2 in. Signed and dated in the plate. A fine, dark impression printed on ultra-thin Japanese paper. Probably the full margins with a deckle showing on three sides. Very good condition other than old hinge adhesive in the top corners and minor soiling in the margins. This print is offered with an impression from the cancelled plate. One of the Sixteen Etchings."
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.
$9,500

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.
$1,200

The Mast
Etching and drypoint, 1879-80, Kennedy 195, (iv/VI)**, edition unknown. 13 3/8 x 6 3/8 in. Signed in pencil with an elaborate butterfly lower left, just below the image. A superb impression printed in black ink on a full sheet of 18th century laid paper, without watermark. Full margins. Very good condition other than a repair in the margin at right. This is a newly discovered state between iv and v, with the butterfly just added but before the background is cleaned. There is selective inking around the standing figure at right. This remarkable proof impression sheds new light on current Whistler scholarship. Provenance: Knoedler, New York.
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