The Little Faustina dates from between 1896 and 1900. 1 According to Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859-1920), 'Some years ago [Whistler] showed a visitor several heads of Italian children, each about ten or twelve, by sixteen or eighteen inches in size'; Whistler priced the portraits at 600 guineas each and the visitor wanted to buy the lot (four in number) but Whistler would not let them go, on the pretence that they were unfinished. 2

The Little Faustina, Freer Gallery of Art

In 1903 another American collector, Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), recorded seeing in Whistler's studio "'Comment tu t'appelle"/ The marvellous little girl, full face, eyes looking into futurity - Her two little hands folded and resting in her lap.' 3