Composition

Whistler may have drawn the eagle before etching a similar subject, Black Eagle [439], possibly in the menagerie that arrived in London in April 1887 for Buffalo Bill's 'Wild West Show' at the 'American Exhibition', held during Queen Victoria's Jubilee. The exhibition opened on 9 May and closed on 31 October.

Technique

The paper is discoloured and stained. The drawing was torn in half by the artist and crudely repaired, possibly by Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913).