Titles
The suggested title is:
- 'Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip' (1980, YMSM). 1
Description
Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian
A full length portrait of a woman in a black dress and shawl, in profile to right, in vertical format. She stands on a dark beige floor, her shadow at right merging into the dark brown/black background. She carries a fan in her right hand and has a red ribbon or feathers in her dark hair. Black feathers – possibly a boa, or trim on a jacket – are visible at her neck, and embroidered patterns on the black shawl or jacket. She may be wearing a mantilla.
Sitter
Ethel Whibley at 110 Rue du Bac, 1896/1898, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/51, 2491
Whistler's sister-in-law Ethel Birnie Philip – Ethel Whibley (1861-1920) – married Charles Whibley (1859-1930) long before this portrait was completed. She posed for several portraits including Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian [YMSM 378]. It is possible that Whistler took the photograph reproduced above.
W. & D. Downey, Ethel Whibley and Mrs Birnie Philip, 1896/1909, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/166
Mrs John Birnie Philip and family, platinum print, GUL Whistler PH1/165
Ethel appears with her mother Frances Philip (1824-1917) in one of the photographs reproduced above, and with the entire Birnie Philip family, and her husband, in the second photograph, which was probably taken shortly after Whistler's death.
Last updated: 22nd October 2020 by Margaret
