Steel anvil with removable wood handle, formerly owned by Whistler

Object Details

• Label

  Freer purchased this anvil and a hammer from the etcher Otto Bacher in 1908. Bacher had worked with Whistler in Venice in 1879-80, and told Freer that the tools had previously belonged to Whistler. Whistler would have used them to remove lines from plates that had already been etched. To do this, he would have placed his plate upside down on the anvil and hammered the lines out from the back. After beating out the unwanted lines, Whistler would have had to repolish the front of the plate before adding new lines to it.

• Provenance

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) [1]

  To 1908

  Otto H. Bacher (1856-1909), New York, NY, given by James McNeill Whistler, to 1908 [2]

  From 1908 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Otto H. Bacher in 1908 [3]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record: "(Undated folder sheet note) Presented by Mr. Whistler to Mr. Bacher."

  [2] See Whistler Reserved List, R. 35, pg. 4, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [3] See note 2.

  [4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Sweet Silent Thought: Whistler's Interiors (August 20, 2011 to August 26, 2012)

  Young Whistler: Early Prints and the "French Set" (August 28, 2004 to March 13, 2005)

  Whistler and the Hadens (June 20, 1999 to April 30, 2000)

  Whistler and the Leylands (July 3, 1998 to June 6, 1999)

• Previous custodian or owner

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

  Otto H. Bacher (1856-1909) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  England

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Tool and Equipment

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1830s, 1860s

• Name

  Whistler, James McNeill, Freer, Charles Lang, Bacher, Otto H.

• Place

  England

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Tools and equipment