Provenance

• By 1904: owned by Mary Brimmer (1827-1906) (Mrs Martin Brimmer, née Mary Ann Timmins, d. 1905);
• 1905: passed by family descent to a private collection;
• 2006: sold at auction, Cottone Auction House, Mount Morris 7 July 2006 and bought by Thomas Colville on behalf of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Mrs Brimmer, the first named owner, died in 1905. According to her executors, Welch & Forbes of Boston, who were trustees of her estate, a 'Small marine by Whistler' was listed in an undated list among 'Articles borrowed by the Museum from other heirs' of Mrs Brimmer. The painting remained in the family for may years until sold in 2006. See Violet and Blue: Among the Rollers [YMSM 413]

Exhibitions

• 1904 : Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 13) as 'Study of the Sea from a boat'. 1

In a catalogue of the 1904 Boston exhibition, originally owned by Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941) and now in the Boston Public Library, the title is given as 'The Sea', and it was described as 'Dark green sea with gray & blue sky' and valued at $2500.