Early Morning, Battersea (Battersea Dawn) (Cadogan Pier)

1861

Not on view

In a scene near his new lodgings on Lindsey Row in Chelsea, Whistler responds to the calm of the Thames at dawn. A beached rowboat lies across the foreground and small sailboats cluster around a wooden dock at center. Beyond is a wooden ferry terminal rests on Cadogan Pier and Battersea Bridge extends across the river. Drypoint has been combined with etching to create soft effects evocative of misty water under an overcast sky. The print probbaly was made in 1863, but not published until in 1871 in A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and Other Subjects (the "Thames Set").

Artwork Details

Title: Early Morning, Battersea (Battersea Dawn) (Cadogan Pier)
Series/Portfolio: Thames Set ("A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and Other Subjects" 1871)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
Date: 1861
Medium: Etching and drypoint; second state of two (Glasgow); printed in black ink on ivory laid paper
Dimensions: plate: 4 1/2 x 5 7/8 in. (11.4 x 14.9 cm)
sheet: 5 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. (14.9 x 19.1 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of David Keppel, 1917
Object Number: 17.21.70
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By James McNeill Whistler

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

The artist's butterfly in an enlarged version with a forked tail

James McNeill Whistler

19th century

Reading, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithograph with scraping; printed in black ink on grayish chine mounted on ivory wove paper; fourth state of four (Chicago) — Reading
James McNeill Whistler
1879

Windsor (Memorial), James McNeill Whistler American, Drypoint; third state of four (Glasgow); printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper — Windsor (Memorial)
James McNeill Whistler
1887

Early Morning, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithotint with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground, printed in black ink on cream wove paper; third state of four (Chicago) — Early Morning
James McNeill Whistler
1878

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.