James Abbott McNeill Whistler. 1834-1903.
Thames Police (Wapping Wharf). 1859. Etching. Kennedy 44.iii. 8 7/8 x 5 7/8 (sheet 6 13/16 x 9 13/16). Issued as plate 2 of "A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and Other Subjects" (Thames Set) in 1871 printed by Ellis and Green. Printed on Strasbourg watermarked laid paper. Signed and dated in the plate. $7,500.
Crowded with old riverside buildings of Wapping, the viewpoint is taken from the water’s edge, looking at masts of sailing ships on the left and a row of river craft anchored on the right. The small skiffs, or rowing boats, of the Marine Police are shown pulled up on the shore at Wapping Wharf. Whistler has shown the old timber frame buildings, brick and stone work, ships’ masts, old boats and river shoreline.
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