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. Silhouette of Phebe Chapin (1809-1851) of Springfield, Massachusetts, in a brass oval frame. Phebe married Alonzo Lamb (b.c.1807) of South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1829 (see her sampler, HD 2003.56.1). This is known as a "reverse silhouette" since the figure is cut out of white paper and then placed over a piece of black silk or sometimes a short length of mourning ribbon or even fine wool. The silhouette form was particularly popular during the first half of the 19th century, and itinerant silhouette-cutters traveled around the country making "likenesses" for a small fee.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2003.56.2 |
