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Historical Society of Pennsylvania collection of silhouettes
This collection holds silhouettes in various formats, arranged in three series: Series I: silhouettes; Series II: related material such as photostats and photographs of silhouettes, ivorytype portraits, drawings, watercolors, lithographs, engravings, book manuscripts; Series III: embroidery and pape...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Corporate Author: | |
| Collection: | Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection of Silhouettes |
| Collection Number: | V87 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
| Physical Description: |
3.2 Linear feet ; 9 boxes, 15 flat files |
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| Access: |
The collection is open for research. |
| Summary: |
This collection holds silhouettes in various formats, arranged in three series: Series I: silhouettes; Series II: related material such as photostats and photographs of silhouettes, ivorytype portraits, drawings, watercolors, lithographs, engravings, book manuscripts; Series III: embroidery and paper cuts.
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania formed this collection over several decades. Housed in 9 boxes, plus oversize objects in one flat file, the collection is arranged by card catalog number and source. A searchable database is available in HSP's library. The vast majority of silhouettes are undated; recorded dates run from circa 1755 to 1964.
The silhouette collection is a valuable resource for the history of works on paper, Philadelphia artists, urban and art historians and genealogists. Many of the silhouettes came from the Charles Willson Peale Philadelphia Museum and Peale Museums in Baltimore and New York. Many of the silhouettes relate to family papers housed at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
The collection falls into three series. Series I are silhouettes, Series II items are taken from silhouettes - engravings, photostats, photocopies, prints, or scholarly articles). Series III consists of other artwork, such as paper cuttings, ivorytypes, and embroidery. Few silhouettes in this collection have an artist’s inscription, however most from the Peale’s Philadelphia Museum can be attributed to Moses Williams (1777–circa 1825), an artist formerly enslaved by Charles Willson Peale. Manumitted in 1802, Williams continued to work at the Peale Museum. Other identified silhouettists include John André, William Henry Brown, Joseph Goldsborough Bruff, William Chamberlain, Augustus Day, Augustin-Amant-Constan-Fidèle Edouart, Samuel Folwell, Miss M. A. Honeywell, William James Hubard, Deborah Logan, John Meirs, Joseph Sansom, and Todd's Patent. |