The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Designs for a locket for Ethel Whibley dates from 1894, possibly on the occasion of the wedding of Ethel Philip and Charles Whibley (1859-1930).

Designs for a locket for Ethel Whibley, The Hunterian

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1409).

Images

Subject

Description

Designs for a locket for Ethel Whibley, The Hunterian

Three designs for a locket with monogram 'EPW', standing for 'Ethel Philip Whibley'.

Technique

Composition

Designs for a locket for Ethel Whibley, The Hunterian

Three alternative designs for a locket for Ethel Whibley (1861-1920), née Birnie Philip.

Technique

The drawings could be by Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896), who was Ethel's elder sister, and made designs for jewellery. It is her writing which is on the verso, but this is inconclusive.

Conservation History

A browned and irregular scrap of paper.

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903 and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1958: bequeathed by Miss Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1409) as 'Designs for a locket for Ethel Whibley'.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.