Accession Number
1954/1.414

Title
The Toilet

Artist(s)
James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1878

Medium & Support
lithotint, with scraping and incising, heightened with black and white crayon on wove paper

Dimensions
11 13/16 in. x 8 1/16 in. ( 30 cm x 20.5 cm )

Credit Line
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker

Label copy
The Toilet
1878
Lithotint with scraping and incising, on a prepared half-tint ground, heightened with black and white chalk
First state of five (Way 6; Chicago 10)
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.414
In this lithotint of a fashionably attired Maud Franklin holding a fan, Whistler’s interest in the details of the dress, with its ruffles and train, is evident. Though the figure emerges from a dark, enveloping background, he had intended to depict “a lady in a very light dress against a light background.” The stone printed darker than he hoped, however, and he had to scrape it to lighten the image and then redraw lines to add contrasting dark areas. He applied black and white chalk to the working proof impressions to indicate how to further alter the stone for the next printing; this is called a touched proof. This impression of The Toilet is one of two such touched proofs of the first state that show Whistler adjusting the overall values and especially the contour of the woman’s hip, offering a unique glimpse of the artist’s thought process.
The Toilet was intended for publication, with Early Morning, in the short-lived periodical Piccadilly, and both were drawn on the same stone.

Subject matter
Drawn on the same stone as "Early Morning", this view of Maud Franklin was published in the periodical "Piccadilly" in July of 1878.

Physical Description
A woman in a dress with long sleeves, a fitted bodice, long skirts, and a train that wraps across the figure to the left, holds a fan and stands against an undifferentiated background. Her figure is turned in a 3/4 pose, although her face is seen in profile.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Western

Rights
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Keywords
Figures
clothed
figures (representations)
standing
woman
women (female humans)