Composition

This was drawn for publication in the book by James McNeill Whistler, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict, Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899. It marked a marginal quotation on p. 12 from William Eden (1849-1915), 'a man is a d-d fool who pays a larger priced for anything he can get for a smaller one.'

Technique

The butterfly was drawn with a fine-nibbed pen, and was reproduced much reduced in scale.

Conservation History

It is on card like Butterfly [M.1568], with a rough edge at left, and an unevenly cut edge at the bottom. The card has darkened except right by the mount. There are three pinholes, two on the left and one upper right, slightly in from the corners.