binder. The film-forming component of paint, which holds pigments in suspension so that they can be applied to a substrate.
cast. An object made by shaping molten metal or another malleable material in a mold.
chiton. Ancient Greek clothing. A draped garment formed from a single piece of cloth folded around the body, pinned at the shoulders, and tied at the waist. Worn by both men and women.
Classical period. Historical period in the ancient Mediterranean, conventionally dated between the fall of the Athenian tyranny in 510 BCE and the death of Alexander III, the Great, in 323 BCE.
coroplast (artisan), maker of figures in clay.
edition. The number of impressions printed once the artist has completed and approved the trial proofs. Whistler’s lithographic editions usually comprised between twelve and twenty-five impressions; once he considered the edition complete, he would have the stone erased.
etching. A kind of print in which lines are incised with a sharp tool into a metal plate covered with an acid-resistant coating, such as wax; when acid is applied, it bites, or etches, the lines into the surface of the plate, which can then be inked and run through the press.
Hellenistic period. Historical period in the ancient Mediterranean, conventionally dated between the death of Alexander III, the Great in 323 BCE and the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE.
himation. Ancient Greek clothing. A mantle or wrap worn by men and women.
impression. A print in ink on paper, approved and often signed by the artist. An impression is essentially a copy of a print, like a copy of a book.
ink. For printing, an oil-based fluid, as distinct from the water-based liquids used for writing.
keystone. The template for a color lithograph, containing the complete drawing, with registration marks to ensure that subsequent printings for additional colors will be aligned.
lithograph. A print traditionally made from a lithographic stone on which a drawing has been made with lithographic crayon or tusche.
lithographic crayon. A crayon composed of pigments mixed with a greasy binder used for drawing on a lithographic stone or transfer paper.
lithographic stone. The thick, flat slab of limestone on which a drawing is made with lithographic crayon or tusche, or transferred from a drawing on transfer paper.
lithography. Literally “stone-drawing,” a printmaking process invented in 1798 by Alois Senefelder (1771–1834) based on the principle that grease and water do not mix. The image to be printed, once drawn on or transferred to the lithographic stone, retains ink, whereas the area around it absorbs water and repels ink. The resulting image is the reverse of the original composition; it bears no plate mark, like an etching, although the area that has been flattened in the press can sometimes be detected. A color lithograph, based on a keystone, is printed with inks of different colors, with separate stones used for each additional color.
mold. A hollow form or matrix used to give shape to a malleable or molten material.
monogram. A character that interweaves the artist’s initials. In Whistler’s case, the “JMW” took the form of a butterfly in 1869 and continued to evolve throughout his career. It almost always appears in his lithographs, as part of the image, but he often added a butterfly signature in pencil.
paper. The most common support for prints and drawings. Until the nineteenth century, paper was made from pulverized cotton and linen rags; after wood pulp replaced rags as the most common source of fiber for paper, Whistler continued to prefer cotton and linen papers for his prints, often searching for blank pages in old books.
pastel. Fabricated chalk: a dry drawing medium made from powdered pigments combined with non-greasy binders, used in the form of finger-length sticks. Whistler favored brown paper as the support for his works in the medium.
peplos. Ancient Greek clothing. A garment formed from a single piece of cloth folded vertically and pinned at the shoulders and belted with a broad overfold. Worn by women.
pigment. A dry insoluble substance, usually pulverized, suspended in a binder to form paint.
poikilia. Ancient Greek term, literally meaning “variation.” Used to describe the visual effect produced by the combination of different colors, materials, and textures, and to express concepts of variety and complexity.
polychromy. The decoration of architecture, both internally and externally, and of sculpture by using differently colored materials or by the addition of paint.
press. Lithography requires a special flat-bed “scraper press,” in which paper is laid face down on the inked stone and rubbed along the back to transfer the ink.
proof. A preliminary trial print.
sanctuary. A sacred space reserved for the worship of a deity, where people made sacrifices and other offerings, typically enclosing a temple or shrine.
states. The preliminary stages in the printmaking process guiding additional work on the stone or the plate. Impressions that show additions (or subtractions) made to the plate or the stone constitute new states of the print.
stump (crayon estompe). A short roll of paper or leather used for shading or blending lines. The stump can be suffused with lithographic tusche and used for drawing on transfer paper or directly onto a lithographic stone.
Tanagra. A town in ancient Boeotia in mainland Greece, which gave its name to the terracotta figurines discovered in its necropolis.
tegidion. Ancient Greek clothing, literally meaning “little roof.” A rectangular face-veil with eye holes, bound around the head with a fillet and folded away from the face back over the crown of the head to form a peaked headdress resembling a gabled roof. Worn by women across Greece between the 4th and 1st centuries BCE and represented almost exclusively on terracotta figurines.
terracotta. A clay-based, non-vitreous ceramic fired at relatively low temperatures.
transfer lithograph. Type of lithograph in which the artist draws the image onto a sheet of transfer paper. The method was pervasive in Whistler’s time as it freed artists from the physical limitations of working on a stone; it also provided a closer approximation to the original drawing because the image was not rendered in reverse.
transfer paper. Specially treated paper designed to receive an artist’s drawing in lithographic crayon and to release, or transfer, the image to the lithographic stone. Whistler often used papier viennois, a grained paper made in Germany or Austria, or papier végétal, a very thin, transparent paper. (See also paper.)
tusche. Used in lithography, tusche (the German word for ink) is a black drawing medium containing the same oily materials as a lithographic crayon but used to draw on the lithographic stone with a brush or a pen. (See also lithographic crayon.)