Free Trade Wharf |  Freer Gallery of Art (1888.36) | |
| Number: | 171 | |
| Date: | 1877 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 99 x 186 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at lower left (3-final) | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | Fine Art Society, 1879? | |
| No. of States: | 8 | |
| Known impressions: | 33 | |
| Catalogues: | K.163; M.160; W.134 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (33) | ||
Free Trade Wharf probably dates from 1877. It was probably the etching sold as 'From Limehouse', in October 1877. 1 The date '1877' is written on an impression acquired by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904), but it is not absolutely certain that Whistler wrote the date (). The butterfly signature etched on the plate confirms the date.
1: Whistler to M. B. Huish, 10 October 1877, GUW #12734.
Other London subjects of similar date include London Bridge 172, Battersea Morn 174, Wych Street, London 176 and Temple Bar 175.
Free Trade Wharf was published by the Fine Art Society, London, in 1879.