This is the first major book about silhouettes since 1978.  The first review of the book says the book is "Beautiful and overflowing with charming illustrations, Rutherford’s book proves full of substance."  The book has arrived and it is visually stunning book with 255 pages packed with beautiful color photographs of silhouettes from museums and private collections and good information about history, techniques, artists, and more.  You don't want to miss this beautiful book!

List price is $65 but I'm offering this book to my faithful readers for $45 plus USPS Priority Shipping $15

Shades of our Ancestors, by Alice Van Leer Carrick (1928)

One of my favorite books, a great read and a wonderful place to learn about American silhouettes and silhouette artists.  Great reference material, lots of good black & white illustrations (plus one beautiful color frontpiece), and the stories will make you fall in love with American silhouettists.  The book is in good condition, very tight, with a little scuffing to the front cover silhouette background (see photo) and yellowing to the pages, especially title page and the edges of many of the pages.  Very nice and tight reference copy.  The front page is inscribed "Mary D. Bartlett" and page 143 has an interesting inscription in the same hand the front page inscription.  The blue ink inscription says "Note-The Dixon family silhouette was done by Edouart in Baltimore, year 1841-in the parlour of their house on Lombard ST. where Jas. Dixon lived first 8 yrs of his married life & then returned "Bloomfield' Talbot Co. Md. where was living until 1890 when it was inherited by R.B. Dixon & hung at "North Bend" for 88 yrs. - It is now in the possession of Robert Dixon Bartlett Jr. after his death 1960 it is owned by Robert Dixon Bartlett Jr."

(#4526)   $65

British Silhouette Artists and their Work, by Sue McKechnie (1978)

This is the Bible of silhouette research....the seminal work....whatever other superlatives can be attached to a reference book....  Ms. McKechnie devoted her adult life to the study of antique silhouettes.  This comprehensive book is 799 pages of information and tons of images (it weighs a ton, too).  It catalogs every trade label and signature known and recorded at the time of its publication.  It discusses individual artists, the history of silhouettes, frames, jewelry, and has a large chapter detailing costumes of the periods (this is my best source for dating silhouettes and portraits).  Lucky for us, Ms. McKechnie even devoted a chapter to artists working in America!  If you are building a collection of silhouettes, or selling or appraising silhouettes, you've gotta have this book!  I apologize in advance for the price.  This book as gotten extremely hard to find.  I looked for months for a copy that I could offer at what I finally had to decide was a "reasonable" rate.  Believe me, if you are serious about silhouettes, this will be your go-to book.  Please also note that the book weighs more than 8 pounds and will be costly to ship....but it is really, really worth it!  This copy is in excellent condition with a little overall yellowing to the dust jacket.

(#4621)     $385

Silhouettes A History and Dictionary of Artists, by Mrs. E. Nevill Jackson (1989)

A necessary staple if you want a reasonably priced reference for silhouette artists.  Mrs. Jackson was the collector who started the trend of collecting antique silhouettes.  She spent a good part of her life researching the art of 18th and 19th century silhouette cutting and the artists who produced this great art form for the masses and the aristocracy alike.  You will find yourself running over and over to the "Dictionary of Artists in Silhouette" which encompasses about one-third of this wonderful book.  Lots of good black & white illustrations.  Original softcover.  Published in 1989 as a unabridged republication of the 1938 Silhouette:  Notes and Dictionary.  This copy is in very good condition with some yellowing to the pages and front cover.  The front cover has a few edge scuffs as seen in the photo.

(#4525)     $40

Silhouettes in America, 1790-1840: A Collector's Guide, by Blume J. Rifken (1987)

Another of my favorite reference books, this little book includes a very important chapter on dating silhouette from clothing.  You'll pull it out again and again for that chapter!  It's packed with illustrations of great American silhouettes.  Ms. Rifken seems to lean a bit towards the folky silhouettes (which I love) and she illustrates what I think are some of the most creative silhouettes made.  This is a very nice copy that looks as if it has never been read.  The pages of the book are good, clean and unbent as is the spine.  The only slight apology is that the front cover has a bit of fading on the left-hand side.  It's a very good copy of an outstanding reference book.

(#4755)    $85

A Loving Likeness American Folk Portraits of the Nineteenth Century, by Marna Anderson (1992).

This is one of my favorite books on folk portraits!  This book represents the exhibit catalog of the 1992 exhibit of Raymond & Susan Egan's folk art collection at The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb.  It includes beautiful photographs of portraits and silhouettes of some of the most important American folk portrait artists of the 19th century.  Brief biographical information is given for known artists within the collection as well as characteristics which help identify of the artist's work.  The book is thin, but it has 60 information-packed pages and all of the many photos are in color.  You will find yourself going back to this book over and over again for reference.  If you collect folk portraits, you need this book! 

This is a very good copy with a little scuffing to the covers and a slight crease in the top quarter of the back cover.  Other than the minor cover scuffs, the book is in great condition with no marks to any pages.  It does not have the supplement.  Good copies of this book are getting increasingly hard to find and increasingly expensive.  It's a great reference book!

(#4316)     $70

This is an iconic reference book for American folk portraits.  You will see it cited over and over again on this website as it is one of my most useful books.  You won't want to put down this beautiful hardcover book until you have looked at each and every one of the 97 color and 240 black & white illustrations.  The biographical information is fascinating and the entries will tell you the important characteristics that will help you recognize works by each artist depicted.  The book is in very almost perfect condition.  I've found one page with a slight ruffle where something may have been clipped to the page.  The pages have a very slight yellowing from age, but the book looks unused.  The dust jacket is in near fine condition.

(#4427)    Sold

This is a favorite book of mine for reference on collecting Americana of all types.  Nina Fletcher Little and Bertram Little were pioneers in collecting American antiques and America was lucky that Ms. Little was a wonderful research-hound and writer.  She literally "wrote the book" on collecting.  This fabulous book (which is also a fun read) recounts the Little's collecting from the time they caught the bug in the 1920s until their collection was one of the best in the country in the 1980s.  She recounts collecting and learning about clocks, ceramics, furniture, textiles, nautical paintings and ship figureheads, decoys and other folk carving, fireboards and overmantle paintings, and one of the best, most extensive collections of folk portraits ever assembled in a private collection.  Really, the list is just a sampling--they collected and researched almost every aspect of American Decorative Arts.  This is a beautiful soft cover book of 292 pages packed with information, fun stories, and incredible color and black & white photographs.  This is a very fine copy of the book with slightly bent corners but super clean and tight.  It is a very good reference you will run to again and again.

(#4166)     $35

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