Print of man sitting in boat with more boats and buildings in background
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

In the foreground, a squinting bearded man in a round cap sits in profile facing right. He is seated in a small boat with his left arm resting on its edge. Rope is coiled around a post on the boat’s side. Several similar boats float in the background, some with sailors sitting in them and rowing. A dock juts out among the boats. It is attached to land in the background, which is lined with many buildings. Most of the buildings are brick, and some have wide doors on their bottom levels. Several have tall brick chimneys.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2005.275
People
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American (Lowell, MA 1834 - 1903 London, England)
Title
Black Lion Wharf
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1859
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/12459

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Etching printed in black ink on white antique laid paper
Technique
Etching and drypoint
Dimensions
plate: 15.1 x 22.4 cm (5 15/16 x 8 13/16 in.)
sheet: 22.5 x 30 cm (8 7/8 x 11 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r. etched: "Whistler 1859"
  • inscription: recto, lower right sheet corner, graphite: A.K.
  • inscription: recto, lower left sheet corner, graphite: 38
  • inscription: lower right, printed in black ink: Whistler. 1859.
  • collector's mark: verso, blue stamp with accession number written below in graphite:
    THE WILLIAM HAYES FOGG / ART MUSEUM OF / HARVARD UNIVERSITY / 2005.275 [Lugt 936]

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
Glasgow iii/iv
Standard Reference Number
Kennedy 42, Glasgow 54

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Patricia Cornwell
Accession Year
2005
Object Number
2005.275
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Emma Chambers, An Indolent and Blundering Art?: The Etching Revival and the Redefinition of Etching in England, 1838-1892, Ashgate Publishing (Aldershot, England, 1999), repr. as fig. 5.4 on p. 137 [not Harvard impression; related bibliography]

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu