Booth, Market place, Loches

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Signatures

  Whistler's butterfly is drawn in pencil on the tab and also etched on the plate.

• Marks

  On the middle of the verso is Harris P. Whittemore's monogram stamped in dark brown ink. On the verso of the tab is the top half of Howard Mansfield's monogram stamped in brown ink.

• Inscriptions

  On the verso, on the bottom of the sheet, are two notations in pencil: 42 H. M.

• Edition/State

  Only state

• Label

  The tiny, picturesque town of Loches on the Loire River in Touraine, France, was another stop on Whistler’s honeymoon tour. An old-fashioned market booth appears in reverse in this rare etching, but Whistler has included a legible poster advertising a new alcoholic beverage, Byrrh. Created only two years before the etching was made, Byrrh was first marketed as a health drink. It soon became a popular French aperitif and is still in production.

  Whistler etchings are identified by "G" numbers as assigned in "James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonn&‌eacute;," by Margaret F. McDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock (University of Glasgow, 2012), http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk. This print is G425 state 1 of 1.

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Exhibition History

  Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change (November 18, 2023 to May 4, 2024)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Purchase — funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Willard G. Clark and the Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s

• Name

  Whistler, James McNeill

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Art, American Art, Store front, Etching (printing process), Business

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Prints