Whistler's Watermarks

Drawing of boy in front of a wharf with sail boats

James McNeill Whistler, Eagle Wharf, 1859, Purchased 1978.

James McNeill Whistler was a prolific and inventive printmaker who took exceptional care with every stage in the creation of plates, stones and impressions. He gave no less consideration to his papers, the characteristics of which were an integral component of the finished print. Whistler celebrated flaws and irregularities in the paper and strived for what was unique at a time when uniformity was a priority for editioned works.

Of the some 260 prints in the National Gallery collection, 118 are on paper bearing a watermark and several watermarks previously unrecorded in relation to Whistler's work, have been discovered. The below pages discuss the motifs, meaning and history behind these diverse watermarks, as explored by the National Gallery’s paper conservation team.

Circular, decorative watermark

The Bishop’s crosier watermark, The Cantons of the Helvetian confederation.

Papers

Watermark of a jester in fool's cap

Listings

Watermark of man riding lion in a circular fence with the words Pro Patria above

The 'Maid of Dort' form of the Pro Patria watermark

Dynasts

Related

Inside Vivienne Binns’s Tower of Babel

Photograph of conservator checking small object with light

Vivienne Binns's Tower of Babel 1989 is a sculpture of 80 small dioramas mounted onto a wooden substrate and elevated on a pedestal.

Read Time 3 minutes
Conservation

Time-Based Media Art

It's a portrait image of Urs Fischer from in front and below, so he's looking at his phone. Not yet melted enough to have any dripping wax bits

Time-based media art describes works of art that are dependent on time, duration, or function including video, film and audio artworks.

Conservation

How to fly Brancusi's Birds

Photo image of two curved and slim abstract sculptures, one in black and one in white

Installing Birds in Space by Constantin Brancusi is a complex, delicate procedure – writes Beata Tworek, Objects Conservator.

Read Time 5 minutes

Analysing the Ambum Stone
Conservation analysis and treatment

A small prehistoric stone carved object in the form of an animal the resembles a long-beaked echidna.

A lucky find following a breakage allowed the National Gallery’s Conservation team to date and analyse the rare and mysterious Ambum stone.

Read Time 7 minutes

Prints of James McNeill Whistler
Part I: 1858–1880

Past Exhibition
Drawing of boy in front of a wharf with sail boats

19 Oct 1982—11 Jan 1983

Conservation

Paper

The Gallery's Paper Conservation team incorporates Mountcutting and Framing and is responsible for the conservation and preparation of works on paper.