Fumette

This is an original etching by American artist James Whistler.  The title: "Fumette", was created and printed in 1858, as part of the series, "The French Set"  The image measures 6 1/2X4 1/4 inches.  This is the 5th state of 5 which includes the printers address in the lower left corner of the image.

The name whistler is plate signed lower right.  Framed.  This impression is very richly inked with extensive plate tone in the backgroun of the subject.

Eloise ('Fumette') (fl. 1840-1858). Éloise - also called Héloïse - posed for Fumette, Whistler's first partner, Héloïse was a grisette, a vivid and fiery character. A grisette, as described in Henri Murger's Scènes de la vie de Bohème (1848/1851) and Alfred de Musset's poem Mimi Pinson (1845), was a working girl, a young seamstress or milliner, fun-loving and faithful as a lover.