Composition

The design on the verso shows three canvas or other woven rectangles attached at the edges to a slender wooden (bamboo?) frame. It is possible that this was a scheme for decoration in Whistler's own house, such as the screen seen in a photograph of Whistler's house in Lindsey Row, reproduced above. However, it could have been a design for William Cleverly Alexander (1840-1916) (see, for instance, Designs for the dining-room at Aubrey House: (a) chairs and door, plates on wall; (b) vase in arched recess [M.0488]) or a later design for furniture, as seen in Whistler's Sketchbook [M.1001].

Technique

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 390).