Sketches on the Coast Survey Plate

James McNeill Whistler

1854–55 · Etching, printed in black ink on a complete sheet of linen-textured ivory laid paper with MBM watermark appearing twice; only state (Glasgow) · Drawings and Prints

Whistler made his first etching while employed as a draftsman at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington, D.C., between 1854 and 1855. A staff member taught him the technique and supplied him with a copper plate, on which he etched topographic renderings of coastlines, then sketched freely drawn figures, and an oval vignette representing "Mrs. Partington and Ike"—characters from a Mark Twain story. The hooded hidalgo, or minor Spanish nobleman, at upper right is likely a self-portrait that hints at the artist’s bubbling ambition. Within a few months, he would be in Paris, pursing an artistic career.

Artist

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1854–55

Medium

Etching, printed in black ink on a complete sheet of linen-textured ivory laid paper with MBM watermark appearing twice; only state (Glasgow)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917