Old Westminster Bridge |  Freer Gallery of Art (1898.266) | |
| Number: | 47 | |
| Date: | 1859 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 76 x 204 mm | |
| Signed: | 'Whistler' at lower left | |
| Inscribed: | '1859' at lower left | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Thames Set', 1871 | |
| No. of States: | 4 | |
| Known impressions: | 75 | |
| Catalogues: | K.39; M.38; T.36; W.36 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (75) | ||
STATE
Four states are known before cancellation.
State 1
Signed and dated 'Whistler 1859' (the 't' is not crossed) at lower left.
The composition is complete.
There is a jetty or a narrow lighter sticking out into the water in the centre.
State 2
Horizontal drypoint lines are added below the bodies of the horses; the jetty or lighter in the centre foreground has almost disappeared.
State 3
A small cloud is added above and to the left of the high tower; two almost horizontal lines in the water - one short and one long - meet at the head of the man with the stick, at left.
The drypoint varies in strength with wear and inking.
State 4
Horizontal and diagonal drypoint lines are added in the sky.
State 4 (cancelled)
Cancelled with four vertical lines (two with additional reinforcing lines etched roughly beside them) and one horizontal line.