Provenance

• 1884: given by Whistler to Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942);
• Date unknown: given by Sickert to George Sitwell Swinton (1859-1937) and passed by family descent to his grandson;
• 1985: bought in April by Richard Kingsett of Agnew's, London dealers, and sold to private collectors.

An accompanying letter headed '2, HYDE PARK STREET, W.', states that the drawing 'Chelsea reach & the dragon-fly. Note in opal (gouache) by James Abbot Whistler. Given to me about 1884 in what was then 13 Tite Street Chelsea (Sargent's present studio) / Walter Sickert'. Sickert's note was augmented in another hand, 'Authority for both subject and authenticity given in May 1908. E. S.' (Elsie, Mrs G. Swinton, a close friend of Sickert).

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.