Antique American Hollow Cut Silhouette With Painted Clothing

Peggy McClard Antiques

Americana & Folk Art

This silhouette shows all the great attributes of American profile cutting. Head and shoulder below the coat lapel are hollow cut, leaving the paper that makes up this handsome man's cravat, collar and lapel. The cravat and hair are added with great flourish in watercolor. This exquisite silhouette retains its original blackened backing paper, which bears the ghost of the head and shoulders. The frame and wonderfully wavy glass also appear to be original to this circa 1820 silhouette. The brass tacks in the corners were apparently added by some ingenuous family member when the brass got loose from age. The legend written onto the back says "Grandfather Potter when a young man." Frame measures 4 1/2" x 5 1/4" Probably from New Hampshire.

Another silhouette by the same artist is found in American Folk Portraits, Paintings and Drawings from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, editor Beatrix T. Rumford (1981) at page 240. See scan below. Of the artists, the book says, in part,

An accomplished hand is evident in the refinement of freehand detail and in the precision and control of the cutting. The collar, stock, and ruff, however, were probably standard finishing touches of the artist's, because he portrayed two young women of Mount Vernon, New Hampshire, in ruffs identical to this woman's. These two related profiles, identified only as "the Clifford sisters," provide the sole link to a specific locale yet found.

(#2994) $695

Scan from American Folk Portraits Plate 230 page 240.