The Black Silk Dress. 1927. Etching. Fletcher 58.ix (published state). 8 3/4 x 6 1/4 (sheet 14 1/2 x 9 1/8). Edition 76 in this state; total 111 proofs). Exhibited at the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers in 1928, no.22. Illustrated: Furst, Original Engraving and Etching: An Appreciation and Salaman (author), Modern Masters of Etching: Brockhurst. A very rich impression printed on off-white wove paper. Signed in pencil. Housed in an archival mat and an elaborately-carved 24 1/8 x 20 1/8 x 1 3/4-inch gold leaf frame. Weight: 5 1/4 pounds
The sitter is the artist's first wife, (Anaïs) Folin, who came from the Basque region of France. The etching is after an oil painting in the collection of St Louis Museum of Art and shows Brockhurst's virtuosity in rendering a variety of textures: the silk dress, the feathered plumes of the hat, the glaze of the vase, and the flawless skin of the sitter.
