Description:
Silhouettes were the most expedient and inexpensive form of portraiture available to New Englanders in the early 19th century. Profiles were so cheap, costing about ten cents apiece, that an artist's profit was dependent on making them as quickly as possible. Framed silhouette profile of Caleb Allen (1781-1814) in black silk on paper, inscribed on the back, "Caleb Allen, Son of Caleb of the Bars. brother of Lovina Allen." In 1768, Caleb Allen (1737-1807), son of Samuel Allen (1702-1746) of the Bars, married Judith Hawks (1745-1819), daughter of Eliezer Hawks (1717-1746) and Margaret Allen (d.1772). Caleb and Judith had eight children, the two youngest of whom were Caleb (1781-1814) and Lovina (1786-1864) Allen; Lovina married Oliver Allen Starr (1791-1870) in 1821. The silhouette descended through Oliver and Lovina's son, Caleb Allen Starr (b.1822) who moved from Deerfield to Durand, Illinois, in 1855, to Josephine Starr. The Bars Fight occured on August 25, 1746, when an Indian raiding party after captives to sell to the French in Canada attacked a group of Deerfield men and boys who were out haying at the Bars; a number were killed, including Samuel Allen and Eliezer Hawks, and according to George Sheldon, "Caleb Allen escaped by dodging about and hiding in a field of corn."
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+77.072 |
