{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O152001"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O152001/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HN1345/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HN1345/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2015HN1345","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O152001/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O152001","accessionNumber":"CAI.145","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"Becquet, or the Fiddler","type":""},{"title":"J. Becquet, sculptor","type":"alternative title"},{"title":"Thames Set","type":"popular title"},{"title":"A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames","type":"series title"}],"summaryDescription":"Following the months spent in Wapping at work on his Thames Set etchings, Whistler returned to Paris for a few months towards the end of 1859. There he experimented with and quickly mastered the exacting technique of drypoint. This method of drawing on an unprepared etching plate with a sharp tool allows the artist to create delicate and spontaneous marks which print with a richness unobtainable by conventional etching. Influenced by the portraits of Van Dyck and Rembrandt, Whistler created a group of prints of Bohemian friends such as the flamboyant cellist, Becquet.","physicalDescription":"Drypoint","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Whistler, James Abbott McNeill","id":"A8983"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drypoint","id":"AAT53228"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Drypoint","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2015HN1345"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLD","id":"THES49658"},"free":"","case":"IONIDES","shelf":"8","box":"A"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"etching","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1859","earliest":"1859-01-01","latest":"1859-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"15","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Drypoint portrait by James McNeill Whistler, 'Becquet, or the Fiddler', 1859","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"The following reference on the title is from the catalogue raisonné of the artist available on the University of Glasgow website:\r\n\r\n'Whistler's original title, 'The Fiddler', as published in the 'Thames Set' would normally be the one used in the catalogue raisonné. However, it is misleading, since the subject is a man playing the cello, not a fiddle, and so early American exhibition catalogues corrected it to 'The Cello Player' or 'The Violocellist'.\r\nDespite his musical abilities, Becquet was actually a sculptor, and the first title recorded for this etching is 'Becquet, sculptor', a title probably provided by Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) when selling an impression in 1861. Similarly the title 'Portrait of Mons. Becquet, sculptor' was used at Whistler's first one-man exhibition in 1874. 'J. Becquet, sculptor' identifies the sitter clearly, and is the preferred title."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"portraits","id":"AAT15637"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["CAI.145"],"accessionNumberNum":"145","accessionNumberPrefix":"CAI","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-24","recordCreationDate":"2008-04-03","availableToBook":false}}