Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

 

M.1046
r.: Grey note - Mouth of the Thames; v.: Caricature of a man in a cocked hat

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1885
Collection: Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Accession Number: 23.251
Medium: r.: watercolour and opaque watercolour; v.: graphite pencil
Support: r.: brown wove paper; v.: cream paper, laid down on card
Size: 5 x 8 7/16" (127 x 215 mm)
Signature: r.: butterfly
Inscription: v.: 'Grey note – Mouth of Thames', and, in another hand, 'by J. McNeill Whistler/ owner Walter Gay/ 73 rue Amère [illegible]'

r.: Grey note - Mouth of the Thames; v.: Caricature of a man in a cocked hat

Site

r.: Grey note – Mouth of the Thames, Boston Museum of Fine Arts
r.: Grey note – Mouth of the Thames, Boston Museum of Fine Arts

The mouth of the River Thames, east of London. It was wrongly identified as Scheveningen in Boston in 1923, when it was confused with Little Scheveningen [M.0965] (and still records this place on the website.

Sitter

It is just possible that the figure on the verso (not reproduced) relates to Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore.

Last updated: 7th June 2021 by Margaret