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[ WAX PORTRAITS [
| ^ SILHOUETTES |
By ETHEL STANWOOD BOLTON
With an Introduction by
CHARLES HENRY HART, Esq^
Second Edition ■
BOSTON |
| THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF THE
COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA
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INTRODUCTION
This little brochure on Wax Portraits and Silhou-
ettes, which I have had the privilege of reading in
proof, merits the reception and approbation that should
be accorded to every serious work in a new field of
investigation. It is true that Mrs. Bolton had very
fallow ground to plow in, but then it is not every one
who recognizes the richness of the soil and knows how
deep to furrow to get the best results out of the un-
touched field. This applies especially to the first part
on Wax Portraits, for, while Silhouettes have been
written upon more or less, Wax Portraits, as far as I
know, have received but scant attention abroad and
none at all here. This treatise, therefore, is a most
valuable contribution to the artistic life in this coun-
try, presenting in a thorough manner for preservation
the history of the work of the wax modellers in the
United States ; and as our pioneer in making wax por-
traits was a colonial woman, Patience Lovell Wright,
it is most appropriate that the pioneer history of these
little gems should come from the Colonial Dames of
America.
CHARLES HENRY HART.
Philadelphia, May, 1914.
3
207645
PREFACE
The following pages are the outcome of a talkgiven
before the Massachusetts Society of the Colonial
Dames, at the rooms of the Society for the Preserva-
tion of New England Antiquities. The latter Society
exhibited, under the direction of Dwight M. Prouty,
Esq., a most interesting collection of wax portraits,
silhouettes, and miniatures during the winter months
of 1 9 13-14, and that exhibition made possible this
sketch. My thanks are especially due to Mrs. Barrett
Wendell, who encouraged my present undertaking ; to
Mr. Charles Henry Hart of Philadelphia, who has
given me many facts, and called my attention to such
scattered literature as has been written upon both sub-
jects; to Mrs. William H. Whitridge and Mrs. Fran-
cis T. Redwood of Baltimore, and to others mentioned
in the notes. Especially I would offer my grateful
acknowledgments to those who have been so kind as to
allow me to copy their treasures for the illustrations.
£. S. B.
Pound Hill Place
Shirley, Mass.
WAX PORTRAITS
j^g^^^gUHE art of modelling in wax is so
old that it has come down to us
from a past that is beyond his-
tory. The ease with which wax
can be worked has insured its use
throughout the ages, and its charm is ever the
same to all generations. In the dim times of the
past the Egyptian often modelled a deity in wax
to accompany him on the journey after death,
and to comfort his soul. So, too, the Greek made
wax gods for his religious rites and wax dolls
for his children's play. Later the Romans made
wax masks of their ancestors — imagines — to be
carried in thefuneral procession. Only the nobles
had the jus imaginum, or right to carry these wax
impressions. The connection of the idea of the
wax figure and religious rite persisted long after
Roman time, for in the middle ages many wax
figures were used as votive offerings in the
churches. The old Roman idea in its entirety
8 WAX PORTRAITS
continued through the time of Elizabeth, so that
it was no uncommon thing for a wax image of
the dead to be borne among the mourners. The
wax form of Queen Elizabeth herself, which was
carried, dressed in state robes, in her funeral
train, is still preserved in Westminster Abbey.
When at last the Renaissance blossomed over
Italy, modelling in wax was one of the arts which
bloomed also, for the great sculptors used that
medium for many of their masterpieces.
Modelling in wax has always been done for one
of two reasons, either as a means to an end or as
an end in itself. During the Renaissance, doubt-
less, wax was used for both reasons, but more
often as a means to an end. The bronze medal-
lions of Pisano owe their delicacy to the fact that
they were first modelled in wax. In addition to
the work done by the medallists, cameo cutters,
and modellers of coins, even sculptors themselves
used wax first, as a means of developing an idea.
Wax is most subtly and exquisitely responsive, for
every minutest touch can be recorded upon it,
>\ > » »»
,•••»,?• ' ,- " *
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Patience W 'right
OWNED BY DR. RICHARD H. HARTE, PHILADELPHIA
AND SILHOUETTES
and the touch once made is immortalized as long
as the wax survives.
Waxes are so frail, are so subject to the action
of heat and cold, that not many of the earlier
groups and portraits have come down to us intact.
Mr. Lewis Harcourt, in England, has made a
large collection. They might be roughly grouped
in three classes, statuettes, allegorical subjects,
and portraits in relief. The first class, statuettes,
has less interest for us here in America, since we
have done nothing of this nature and so have no
means of comparing our work with theirs. The
secondclass, allegorical figures in relief, has many
examples in England. The greatest artist in this
kind of work was Flaxman, many of whose sub-
jects were afterwards translated into pottery by
Wedgwood for his jasper ware. Flaxman also
made many portraits which were put to the same
use. He had worked in wax from childhood and,
like Ball Hughes later, he never abandoned the
art.
It is the third class, portraits, with which this
IO WAX PORTRAITS
sketch is mostly concerned. The earliest English
portrait known is abeautifulone of King James I,
which was done by Allesandro Abondio, the
younger, an Italian who flourished between 1550
and 1650. Another sixteenth century wax por-
trait modeller was Leone Leoni, who left us a
portrait bust of his friend, Michael Angelo.
In France the oldest and most interesting wax
portraits are those by Francois Clouet, which are
now preserved in the Cluny Museum. Following
him came GuillaumeDupre and AntoineBenoits.
The latter was then the best exponent of an art
which had attained such importance that during
the time of Louis XIV he was appointed unique
sculpteur en cire couleur to the French king.
From the time of Abondio till the close of the
eighteenth century the modelling of relief groups
and portraits had great vogue throughout Europe.
These waxes are of many kinds, as each man
seems to have been his own arbiter in method
and coloring. Giorgio Vasari, the chronicler of
Italian painters, writes of the mediaeval method
LUCY LORD DUTCH
John Christian Rauschner
OWNED BY MRS. FRANCES GILMAN, PORTLAND, ME.
AND SILHOUETTES II
of preparing the wax for use: "To render softer,
a little animal fat and turpentine and black pitch
are put into the wax, and of these ingredients it
is the fat that makes it more supple, the turpentine
adds tenacity, and the pitch gives it a black color
and consistency, so that after it has been worked
and left to stand it will become hard." He says
that colors can be ground, sifted, and mixed with
wax when made as liquid as possible. White wax
can be made with white lead, " nor shall I conceal
that modern artists have discovered the method
of working in all sorts of colors, so that in taking
portraits from life, in half relief, they make the
flesh tints, the hair, and all so lifelike that tfiese
figures lack nothing but speech." x
Many portraits were done, as Flaxman's alle-
gorical figures were, in white wax. But white
was not always used, for there is in Mr. Har-
court's collection a beautifully modelled one of
William Pitt in pink, done by Peter Rouw. This
'Wax Portraiture; Teall. American House and Garden Maga-
zine, August, 19x3.
12 WAX PORTRAITS
same Peter Rouw was the best of the English
artists, with the possible exception of S. Percy.
Others of this same period were G. G. Adams and
R. G. Lucas. Lucas dispensed with the glass or
slate background which had been common at an
earlier date ; and he also made his portraits larger
than the others. These four men ended the bril-
liant period of the art in England; those who
came after in the Victorian era, while they
modelled with simplicity and considerable feel-
ing for beauty, yet lacked absolute mastery of the
method.
During the best period of this art in England
an American was doing her share to make it
notable; and it is a great pleasure to feel that wax
portraiture in America had so striking a person-
ality connected with its early history as that of
Patience Wright, our second American artist,
a sculptor in wax.
Patience Lovell was born in 1725, just five
years after the birth of our first American artist,
James Claypool, "face painter," in Philadelphia.
REV. EPHRAIM WARD
John Christian Rauschner
OWNED BY CLAYTON C. HALL, ESQ,. , BALTIMORE
MRS. MARY (COLEMAN) WARD
"John Christian Rauschner
OWNED BY CLAYTON C. HALL, ESQ^. , BALTIMORE
AND SILHOUETTES 13
She lived at Bordentown, New Jersey, with her
Quaker parents, and there in 1748 she married
Joseph Wright. She had in early life modelled
in putty, dough, or any other pliable material
that she could find. So when she waslef t a widow
in 1769, with three children to support, she began
to model portrait heads in wax. Her talent is the
more remarkable because she had never had
the opportunity to see sculptured art at all, nor
were her Quaker surroundings such as to entice
her into those fields. Her likenesses were so
clever that her fame soon spread beyond her own
locality. In 1772, she and her children went to
London, where she immediately became the rage.
Her skill was so great that Horace Walpole wrote
that "Lady Aylesbury literally spoke to a waxen
figure of a housemaid in the room." Mrs. Wright
made many of her models life size and in the
round. The English periodicals gave her high
praise andcalled herthe "Promethean modeller."
One of them adds: "Her likenesses of the king,
queen, Lords Chatham and Temple, Messrs.
14 WAX PORTRAITS
Barre, Wilkes, and others, attracted universal
admiration. Her natural abilities are surpassing,
and had a liberal and extensive education been
added to her innate qualities she would have
been a prodigy. She has an eye of that quick and
brilliant water that it penetrates and darts through
the person it looms on, and practice has made her
so capable of distinguishing the character and
disposition of her visitors that she is very rarely
mistaken, even in a minute point of manners;
much more so in the general cast of character."1
We are told that she did most of her modelling
with her thumb and forefinger. To an English-
man, her full-length portrait of Lord Chatham
would be the most interesting example of her
work. It found a place in Westminster Abbey
after his death, and represents him standing in
his official robes.
When the Revolution broke out, Mrs. Wright,
being a hot-headed rebel who could not easily
^he London Magazine contains a cut of Mrs. Wright seated
holding a miniature bust of a man.
REV. ASA EATON, S.T.D.
John Christian Rauschner
OWNED BY CHRIST CHURCH, BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 1$
hold her tongue, was not as popular in high circles
as before. She continued, however, to live in
England, although "with a full purpose of mind"
to settle her affairs and return to America. Her
son Joseph had already returned and was making
marked use of his mother's lessons in wax model-
ling to design our first coins. In 1775 she exe-
cuted a relievo of Franklin, which Wedgwood
made into one of his basaltic medallions ; but a
life-size bust of Franklin that she made was un-
fortunately broken to pieces. Perhaps the most
interesting portrait to Americans is her relief of
Washington in white wax. It has not the author-
ity of a life portrait, for it was done from her son
Joseph's clay bust, which was sent to her in Eng-
land. The wonderful fact about this wax is, that
she has modelled from another's work a portrait
which surpasses the original both in workman-
ship and in the conception of the character of
the man.1
xThe profile of Washington is 9 1-2 inches high, 6 inches wide,
modelled in high relief of white wax, now yellow. It is owned by
R. H. Harte, M.D., of Philadelphia.
16 WAX PORTRAITS
Patience Wright died in London, March 25,
1786, leaving one daughter, Phoebe, in England,
married to John Hoppner, the famous artist; a
son, Joseph, in America, who won fame and name
for himself as a painter and as the designer of
our first coins ; and a daughter, Elizabeth, wife
of Ebenezer Piatt, who had some of her mother's
cleverness in modelling in wax.1
As we turn from Patience Wright and her
brilliant career, we feel a little as if we had left
dry land to wander across a fog-blown, marshy
stretch, wondering, while a little fear creeps into
the back of our mind, whether or no we are on
safe ground, and whether we are going toward
home. The information about our latter-day
artists is so vague that with a single exception
we hesitate to make very definite statements.
The drop from the clever artists of the late eight-
eenth century to those of the early nineteenth
is somewhat sharp. What Mrs. Wright did by
^ee Patience Wright, Modeller in Wax; by Charles Henry Hart,
in the Connoisseur, Vol. XIX, page 18.
LEONARD KIP, OF KIP S BAY
John Christian Rauscbner
OWNED BY REV. LEONARD KIP STORRS, D.D., BROOKLINE
AND SILHOUETTES 17
genius and her clear white wax and modelled
shadows they tried to do with less skill and by
calling in color to carry them over their diffi-
culty in modelling. They had skill in outline,
and doubtless their profiles were accurate and
lifelike, but their modelling shows rather the
skill of the craftsman than the genius of the
artist. Their work was often done in lower relief
than Mrs. Wright's, and shows less skill in the
modelling of the facial muscles. Nevertheless
the portraits are fascinating, and call back for us
a time that is gone. The ladies are all so genteel
in their dotted muslin gowns, their hair done up
with combs, or covered with queer mobcaps.
And each lady has some favorite ring or brooch
infacsimile upon herflnger or in her dress. Curls
are there in infinite variety, coyly hanging before
the ear or more obviously upon the forehead.
The gentlemen, too, are bedight in their best,
with their black or brown coat and stock. Some
wore frills and some wore neckcloths with long
ends. On the projecting end of one can still be
l8 WAX PORTRAITS
seen the finger or thumb print of the modeller.
They are very attractive.
One man who seems to have wandered all over
the eastern side of our country in the early years
of the nineteenth century was John Christian
Rauschner, a Dane. Mr. Felt in his annals of
Salem has a paragraph marked "Wax portraits,"
in which he says: " 1809, J- C Rauschner forms
these in Salem. Such talent has received but little
favor, because other modes accomplish its object
withgreaterconvenienceand satisfaction." With-
out calling Mr. Felt's accuracy into question, we
should yet doubt whether he was entirely right,
as the Essex Institute contains at least nine of
his wax miniature portraits. One of particular
interest is a family group, mounted as usual on
glass painted a light seal brown on the outer
surface. Inside the oval frame are mounted the
five members of the Lang family, the father,
Nathaniel Lang, at the top, and with his wife
and three children forming an oval of portraits.
"Lang 1 8 10" is painted in the center in aGerman-
J. WEPHOUS CURIGER
George M. Miller
BLOOMFIELD MOORE COLLECTION, PHILADELPHIA
AND SILHOUETTES 19
like script. The wax of Rauschner's portraits is
colored all the way through, according to the
mediaeval receipt, and only the small parts, like
the eyes, eyebrows, and slight shadows, are
painted in. The fact that the color was continu-
ous throughout is very visible in the wax of the
Rev. Thomas Barnard, of the North Church,
Salem, which in the Essex Institute copy is broken
at the neck, so that the composition of the wax
can be seen. This portrait of the Rev. Thomas
Barnard brings up a very interesting matter, for
in Salem there are two of him exactly alike.
Rauschner boarded while he was in Salem with
the family of Daniel Dutch. Deputy Sheriff
Dutch was a picturesque character who went
about as long as he lived in small-clothes,
probably the last man to wear them in Salem.
Rauschner modelled portraits of the whole
family, perhaps to eke out his board, if what
Felt says of his popularity was true. The one of
Mrs. Dutch is still preserved in Portland; but
more interesting than the portrait itself is a mould
20 WAX PORTRAITS
of it which is in Concord, and which explains the
method of duplication of Dr. Barnard's portrait.
This mould is four and a half inches high by two
and three quarters wide, covered on the inside
with a brownish yellow paint. It appears to be
made of plaster of Paris. Within is an intaglio
of the lady, with her fine features, double chin,
and cap. The folds of her muslin short-sleeved
dress are quite visible. After the wax had been
pressed into the mould color by color and re-
moved, the modeller then added the little touches
of lace, of flower, of comb, ring, and jewelled
ornament. Mrs. Dutch was Lucy Lord of Ips-
wich, who married first Aaron Staniford, and
later Daniel Dutch. All the portraits but the one
of Mrs. Dutch were melted in a slight fire in
the Dutch house. Neither portrait of the Salem
dames had jewelled combs or brooches, but
Mrs. Dutch's cap was garnished with real lace
and Mrs. Lang had a real lace guimpe.
So it seems that Rauschner at least used a
mechanical means to furnish duplicates of such
AND SILHOUETTES 21
of his work as was likely to be in demand, as in
the case of Dr. Barnard, whose portrait admiring
parishioners would wish to buy. Perhaps in some
fortunate time a cache of Rauschner's moulds
may be discovered as Edouart's duplicate silhou-
ettes were found, and then we may see many
whose original waxes have yielded to time.
Mrs. John Pierce, who was Mary Bates of Bos-
ton, wears in her wax image a semblance of a
brooch and ring which her descendants own
and cherish to this day. The use of seed pearls
was very common through all the later history
of the art. Perhaps the best examples are in
the Boston Art Museum, where the wax of
Mrs. Johann Christian Gottlieb Graupner fairly
shines with them. And Our Lady of the Ruff,
also in the Museum, and of a much earlier date,
is equally resplendent.
The portraits by Rauschner which are here
illustrated are both interesting examples of his
work. The Rev. Asa Eaton, for many years rector
of Christ Church on Salem Street, gathered a
22 WAX PORTRAITS
congregation of eight hundred about him, and
was the first to start a Sunday school in this part
of the world. No one can look upon his gentle,
refined face, as the wax portrait brings it before
us, without realizing that he must have been a
spiritual force in his community. Rauschner
mounted his work usually upon glass, but in the
case of the Rev. Mr. Eaton red velvet has been
used. Leonard Kip, of Kip's Bay, New York,
was born in 1774, and became a merchant because
a large part of his family estates had been swept
away in the Revolution. When "by skill and
prudence he was enabled to repair his shattered
fortunes, he withdrew from business, leaving
behind him an enviable reputation for ability and
integrity." He died in Hartford in 1846. His
likeness bears out his history, showing us a fine,
substantial man of affairs.
Of Rauschner's personal history very little is
known beyond the fact that he was in Salem and
Boston in 1809 and early 18 10. An advertise-
ment in a Philadelphia paper for September 19,
MARY JANE (MILLER) QUINCY
Robert Ball Hughes
OWNED BY MRS. ALBERT THORNDIKE, BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 23
1810, found some years ago by Mr. Hart, says:
John C. Rauschner respectfully acquaints the public
that he hath returned to this city after an absence
of nine years. He continues to take likenesses in
wax composition in color, also family pieces.
We know that he was in New York City some-
time during those nine years, and that his place
of business was at No. 41 Chatham Street. At
times he worked as a hair-dresser.
Rauschner, on his return to Philadelphia, did
at least two wax profiles, those of Aaron Storck
and his wife Esther. These are "beautifully and
delicately modelled and are wholly artistic in
their execution. From the animation and expres-
sion they could not have been other than excellent
likenesses."1 The waxes now in Philadelphia,
by Rauschner, seem to be few, but those by
George M. Miller are more common. Miller's
waxes were smaller than Rauschner's, being only
about two, or two inches and a half in height.
They are not as fine as Rauschner's, since they
1 Charles Henry Hart, Esq., who owns the waxes.
24 WAX PORTRAITS
are neither as artistic nor as elaborate. Waxes
by Miller of Albert Gallatin and Mrs. James
Madison were exhibited in the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts in 1813; in 1814, one of
Bishop William White; and in 1821, one of
Talbot Hamilton. There are five others now
known in Philadelphia. So far as can be found,
neither Miller nor the Italian Volaperta, who
modelled wax heads in New York and Philadel-
phia, ever came to New England.
In 1806, there was born in London a boy who
was called Robert Ball Hughes. Very early in
life he desired to model, but being poor, had to
wait until he had collected enough candle ends
to make his first attempt. Similar stories doubt-
less are told of many other sculptors, too, but be
that as it may, Ball Hughes finally won a medal
at the Royal Academy for the best copy of a
bas-relief of the Apollo Belvidere. Later he
again succeeded with a bust of George the Fourth.
In 1829, he came to New York and then to Boston,
where he finally settled in Dorchester. He lived
ELIZABETH RODMAN
Robert Ball Hughes
OWNED BY MRS. DUDLEY L. PICKMAN, BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 2$
there until he died, and those who write books on
sculpture wonder that in his long life he did
so little. They call attention to his statue of
Nathaniel Bowditch in Mount Auburn, the first
bronze cast in America, and point to "Little
Nell" in the Boston Athenaeum; but they ignore
the most delightful expression of his genius,
which was in modelling reliefs in white wax.
He worked for many years to find some formula
whereby he could make a composition that would
remain white, and having found it, he died with
the secret untold. His waxes are most exquisite,
doubly so from their exceeding whiteness and
beautiful modelling. They are mounted on vel-
vet, but are slightly raised, so that one gets an
impression of roundness and shadow.
Nowhere has he shown to greater perfection
these qualities of dazzling white and delicate
modelling than in the portrait of Mrs. Mary
Miller Quincy, wife of the second MayorQuincy
of Boston ; and nowhere does the superiority of
his wax express itself more clearly than in the
26 WAX PORTRAITS
glow of the high lights and the blue transparency
of the shadows. The Elizabeth Rodman shows
greater boldness of modelling and an effective
use of high relief.
With Ball Hughes's death the art languished
here in America; gradually the frail reliefs
yielded to time, fire, and careless hands, until
now there are but a few cherished specimens in
any city.
With the surprising revival of interest in sil-
houettes throughout Europe and America, we
may hope that there is to be fresh interest in the
art of modelling in wax, and indeed we have
the evidence of such an interest in the cheering
work of Miss Mundy.
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AND SILHOUETTES
27
SILHOUETTES
LIVERWENDELLHOLMES,
once on a time in jocund mood,
wrote verses to a charming un-
known lady whose portrait was
exhibited in the Athenaeum gal-
lery. One stanza shall be given here as an intro-
duction to our subject:
"Pray did you ever hear, my love,
Of boys that go about
Who, for a very trifling sum,
Will snip one's portrait out?
I'm not averse to red and white,
But all things have their place;
I think a profile cut in black
Would suit your style of face!"
His rather nonchalant attitude towards sil-
houettes has been echoed frequently throughout
the ages, for like all arts, and like the Roman
Empire, the art of silhouette cutting has had its
rise and its fall. Like wax models, "shades"
have come down to us from farthest antiquity.
28 WAX PORTRAITS
In the tombs of Egypt, the conventionalized
figures done in profile are but painted silhouettes,
and are as true to life as our own, except for one
thing : the Egyptian never learned to draw the eye
in profile, nor did any artist of Crete, of Baby-
lon, of Nineveh, or of any other city, until the
fourth century B.C., when a Syracusan modelled
it correctly for a coin. The figures on Etruscan
oil jars and Greek vases are nothing but "shades."
The first legend of a real shade is that of the
daughter of Diabutades, who realized that her
lover was becoming cold toward her. One day,
as he stood so that the sun cast his shadow upon
the wall, she outlined it, hoping to keep his image,
if not his love. There are many variations of this
story; often it is the tale of a lover whose betrothed
had died, and whose shadow, as she lay in her
coffin, was cast upon the wall by the candle at
her head. It matters not to which legend we
pin our faith, for the real story is so far removed
in antiquity that age lends it charm. The Jap-
anese have always had an appreciation of the
AND SILHOUETTES 29
great value that the silhouette possesses, for many
of their portraits contain, besides the colored
likeness, a profile done in black wash, as an
interpretation.
A silhouette at its best is a thing of real beauty
and great cleverness; at its worst it is a quaint
handicraft, which at least shows the dress and
manners of the day. There is no sequence in type,
as each has persisted throughout the period of its
vogue. The types are very numerous, and are
interesting for the ingenuity shown in making
and treating the same black shade in new and
original ways.
Silhouettes were painted on glass, ivory, or
plaster, in oil or India ink. One of the earliest
methods was with the brush and India ink on
ivory, card, or plaster. This is perhaps not an
ideal type of silhouette, as it trenches upon the
province of the miniature, being really a profile
in monochrome. There were two men in London,
in partnership at the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury, who made beautiful silhouettes of this type.
30 WAX PORTRAITS
They were John Miers and John Field. They
advertised that they "execute their long approved
Profile likenesses in a superior style and with
that unequalled degree of accuracy as to retain
the most animated resemblance and character,
given in the minute sizes of rings, brooches,
lockets, etc. (time of sitting not exceeding five
minutes). Messrs. Miers and Field preserve all
the original shades by which they can at any
period furnish copies without the necessity of
sitting again. Miers & Field, Profile Painters
and Jewellers."
Field began his work in 1792, and the firm
lasted until 1827. The smaller forms have be-
come so rare as to be found only in a very few
large collections, but one of Field's small lockets
is fortunately owned in this country. It is the
silhouette of Robert C. Hooper, done with ex-
quisite delicacy, and with the high lights touched
with gold. Mr. Miers never used gold upon his
silhouettes, according to tradition, but Mr. Field
seems to have done so in many instances. His
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50 I
en
3 S
ci O
i I
c
I o
H
o
AND SILHOUETTES 31
silhouette of Hester Savory, that young girl
whom Charles Lamb is said to have loved, is
delightfully pencilled with gold.
Another form of silhouette which flourished
at this time was that painted on glass. The Eng-
lish type, which differed from the American, was
nearly always backed by wax or plaster, and in
consequence, it is very difficult to find one in good
condition, since the wax or plaster has nearly
always been cracked by the heat or cold to which
it was subjected. Critics tell us that the loveliest
form of all was that of the likeness painted on
convex glass, in such a way that one did not look
directly at the painted face to see the silhouette,
but upon a white card behind upon which the
shadow was cast. The beauty and delicacy of
these is very great, according to their enthusiastic
admirers.
Really the variations of method are endless, for
some artists, not content with plain black paint,
have used a combination of pine soot and beer,
which gives a very intense blackness. There
32 WAX PORTRAITS
appears to have been a time when beer was the
do-all and cure-all, for at about this same period
is found the receipt for cleaning pewter by boil-
ing it in beer and hay. Be that as it may, these
silhouettists covered glass with the mixture of
pine soot and beer, and then removed the back-
ground from around the portrait, or removed
the portrait and left the background. The glass
was then backed with gold leaf, silver leaf, or
tinsel, so that the result was a gold or silver por-
trait in a black ground or the reverse. Sometimes
delicate lines are left to traverse the morebrilliant
background.
All these processes demanded a great deal of
artistic ability, skill in catching a likeness, and
much charm in drawing. If they had not these,
the work had little to commend it, for it was mere
outline. One artist of this type, who flourished
at the time of Miers & Field, was Charles, an
Englishman, who with his brush made exceed-
ingly delicate and lovely silhouettes. His portrait
of John Lucas, which is reproduced here, was,
JOHN LANGDON
OWNED BY W. L. WILLEY, ESQ., BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 33
despite its small size, one of the most charming
at the exhibition in Boston. It is so inexpensively
mounted that neither Charles himself nor his
sitter could have realized the real beauty of the
work which one was selling and the other buying
so cheaply. His work nearly always combines,
as does this example, fine line work and solid
black.
One enthusiast wrote a treatise between 1800
and 1825 on "Papyro-Plastico, or the art of
modelling in Paper." In this pamphlet it is ex-
plained that by sticking three or four sheets of
paper together, and by working at the back with
a polishing steel, one can actually make a profile
portrait in slight relief out of a silhouette cut
from white paper. He adds that this process
gives "it the appearance of a marble tablet or a
plaster cast done by a sculptor." Thus can one
attain great ends from base beginnings.
But the silhouette often lapsed from real art,
when no man of genius gave it his beneficent
touch. And in those dire days mechanical aids
34 WAX PORTRAITS
came into use. It was during one of these periods
of eclipse that the art acquired the name by which
we know it today. There lived in France, be-
tween 1709 and 1767, Etienne de Silhouette, who
became Controller-General of France. Like all
prophets he was without honor in his own coun-
try, for realizing the great calamity which con-
fronted France, he set himself to preach economy
to a Court which had never even known its name.
He translated English writings on finance, and
endeavored to put his country upon a sound basis.
He attacked privilege, and reduced the pensions
of the nobles, till at last his name became synon-
ymous with all that was mean and cheeseparing.
So portrait painting languished, and the poor
mean artof the silhouette, for so itwas considered,
flourished for a time. Silhouette himself made
shades by mechanical means. It seems strange
that it was not until 1825 that the art was finally
christened with its new name of silhouette.
In the days of Miers & Field and Charles,
the scrap-book flourished mightily. Everybody
1 I
2 o
X 25
> s.
0
r7T a" a 4 J J^gA
AND SILHOUETTES 35
had one and everybody pasted. Queen Charlotte
and the Princess Elizabeth made scrap-books,
and the Princess spent much time cutting silhou-
ettes to go therein. She cut all kinds of things —
portraits of people and of dogs, hunting scenes,
and other pictures, parts of which were so fine
that a sharpened needle was used in cutting. The
Princess's example was, of course, followed by
those of less degree, and many a lady cut silhou-
ettes for her scrap-book or for a friend's. Among
those ladies was Mrs. Leigh Hunt, who was
one of the best of the amateurs. Her work is
unfortunately unsigned, but her portraits of
Leigh Hunt, of Lord Byron, and of John Keats,
in 1820, are authentic.
To Americans a silhouette means nearly always
a portrait in black paper, pasted upon a white
ground or vice versa, though sometimes the same
effect was gained by cutting a hole in a piece of
white paper and backing it with black paper or
cloth. A few knowing ones realize that there
are at least two other types which were made in
36 WAX PORTRAITS
America, those painted on glass and those which
are done in color. The first person who cut sil-
houettes in England was Mrs. Pyburg, who made
black paper portraits of King William and
Queen Mary. After reading English books upon
silhouettes, you feel that you should as soon for-
get your mother's name, or the date of the Battle
of Hastings, as forget Mrs. Pyburg. She began
things, she is like Adam and Eve; and after
Mrs. Pyburg, nothing, until in the early nine-
teenth century England began to send us here in
America her prodigies. One of the first to come
was "Master Hubard," whose given names were
William James, a youth of seventeen. He had
begun his remarkable career as a silhouettist in
England at the tender age of thirteen. At seven-
teen, his genius being ripe for foreign travel, he
visited us here in Boston. He had previously
been in New York and Philadelphia, where he
had exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of
Fine Arts for three successive years. And we
in Boston changed his life, for Stuart's paintings
AND SILHOUETTES 37
so entranced him that he abandoned silhouette
cutting as an art and England as his country.
He chose Philadelphia as his home and, having
been instructed by Sully, spent the remainder
of his life as a painter of full-length portraits of
cabinet size. He died in Richmond, February 25,
1862, killed by the explosion of a shell he was
filling for the use of the Confederacy.1
While he was in Boston he had a room in the
Exchange Coffee House, where for fifty cents he
cut your likeness in twenty seconds. He called
his art "Papyrolamia." Usually his cards have
" Hubard Gallery" in the left-hand corner. The
portrait of John Gray Park, which is by Hubard,
unfortunately does not show the mark. He cut
full-length portraits as well as busts, and like his
predecessors used India ink and gold pencilling.
And when the likeness was complete he would
frame it "in black glass in elegant oval, round, or
square frames, gilt or black," for which he would
1See Mr. Charles Henry Hart's article in the Outlook for Octo-
ber 6, 1900.
38 WAX PORTRAITS
charge from fifty cents to two dollars. The
Homer1 family, of Boston, sat to him for their
likenesses. Unfortunately it is not possible to tell
which Homer is which, but they are marked,
"Cut with scissors by Master Hubard without
drawing or machine at the gallery of cuttings
and Philharmonicon Concert Room." This short
advertisement differentiates him from all of those
who had preceded him in America. Silhou-
ettes had been made, but only by a machine.
The earliest and most important of these were
cut at Peale's Museum in Philadelphia. Soon
after the Revolution Charles Willson Peale, the
artist, opened a gallery, which consisted for the
most part of paintings of people of national im-
portance. Here he had also the silhouette cutter,
which was worked in such a way that the profile
is a hole cut from white paper. The portrait was
then mounted upon black. The silhouette of
Moore Wharton, which was cut at Peale's Mu-
seum, shows the texture of the black cloth very
1 Owned by Grenville H. Norcross, Esq., of Boston.
AND SILHOUETTES 39
distinctly. The great English authority on silhou-
ettes tells us that this form is unknown in Eng-
land, and cites five examples in the Library of
Congress as extremely rare. The truth is that it
is almost the commonest form of small silhouette
with us. The machine, so far as has been proved,
never did more than the bust. Peale cut silhou-
ettes of all the great men of his day.
What Peale did for Philadelphia, William
Bache and William King did for New England
and the north. Of Bache little is known; on the
silhouette of George Wythe of Virginia, cut in
1804 f°r Jefferson, Mr. Hart found his Christian
name. He cut by mechanical means and prob-
ably with the same kind of machine that Peale
used. He marked his portraits with a stamp
which reads " Bache's Patent." The silhouette of
Mrs. Devereux shows the mark very plainly.
Bache did many Salem worthies. Salem is, in
fact, a happy hunting ground for the lover of wax
or silhouette, for Salem people seemed desirous
of allowing their likenesses to pass down to pos-
40 WAX PORTRAITS
terity. Among others who made silhouettes in
Salem must be included Mr. Joye, whose name
appears upon a delightful portrait in India ink.
To return to Mr. Bache, it is worthy to note that
he did not slavishly adhere to his cutting machine,
for he often embellished his work with India ink,
not only in graceful outlines of hair or frill, but
with a ruffle which extended entirely across the
silhouette.
Mr. Felt, in his Annals of Salem, tells of an
exhibition of silhouettes in 1791 : "Mr. Bowen's
likenesses of General Washington and lady and
others, from the Boston Museum, begin to be
shown at the Assembly Rooms. Admission for
each adult 1/6." He adds that there were similar
exhibitions of silhouettes "in 1799, 1801, and
since." He does not tell, nor does the advertise-
ment, whether or not the exhibit was to catch
victims for the silhouettist. He does tell in short
terse sentences of William King's career in Salem
in 1804: "William King comes to take profiles.
He has much to do in this department. He was
AND SILHOUETTES 41
succeeded by several others. Such art has since
lost its attraction." 1 Bache was probably one of
King's successors, as he is supposed to have been
in Salem about 18 10. King does not seem to have
enjoyed much prosperity; perhaps he fell upon
lean years, for before the following season he had
moved to Portsmouth. He advertised that he
had taken rooms at Colonel Woodward's, where
he cut likenesses for twenty-five cents. Later
on, William Bentley, of diary fame, records his
further progress northward, but after 1807 ne
disappears from view here in New England.
"1807 Feb. 6th2 Mr. King has a panorama
still in Salem. It is the siege of Tripoli. The
ships are done by [Michele Felice] Corne, for-
merly living in the town and introduced by E. H.
Derby from Naples. The ships are good, but the
whole admits some improvement. The profits
from such Exhibitions in Salem are said to be
1Vol. II. Miss Mary C. Crawford called my attention to these
interesting items.
'Diary of William Bentley, Vol. Ill, 1803-10, p. 276.
42 WAX PORTRAITS
much less than in Marblehead. Few visit in the
daytime. Commercial habits enquire how much
by it? His profile cutting produced him more in
Halifax, N. 8., than in Salem."
The Salem record of silhouettes would not be
complete without one more quotation from the
"Annals," which is interesting because it brings
before us another name for the art, and a new
name upon the roster of those who really cut sil-
houettes. "1828 Master Hanks, as the successor
of the celebrated Master Hubard, is advertised
as capable of delineating every object in nature
and art with extraordinary correctness. This he
did by means of paper and scissors, merely look-
ing at the subject represented. It took him but a
few minutes to give an exact bust of any person
he saw. At Concert Hall, where his talent was
fully and successfully tested, was the Papyro-
tamia, or a curious collection of paper cuttings.
Admission twenty-five cents. In this department
of art several young women of Salem have greatly
excelled."
b
AND SILHOUETTES 43
No signed example of his work has been seen
in New England, but there is one in Baltimore,
of "Miss Henrietta Moffit at the age of about six
years."1 So Master Hanks may have visited the
cities up and down the coast, but he has left no
further biographical detail.
The wandering silhouettist is hard to trace.
On a few portraits "Williams" is stamped, and
they are nearly always mounted in such a way
that the name can only be read by Alice's Look-
ing-glass methods. Who he was does not appear,
but a portrait of an unknown man is herewith
reproduced in the hope that some day more may
be known of Williams.
Boston boasts but one local silhouettist, Wil-
liam M. S. Doyle, who became the partner of
Daniel Bowen. Bowen had established a museum
in 1791 opposite the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on
State Street. Later he was in a hall over the
schoolhouse on Hollis Street. In 1795, Bowen
and Doyle moved again to the corner of Brom-
1 Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Whitridge, Baltimore.
44 WAX PORTRAITS
field and Tremont Streets. They had very bad
luck, for the building was burned in 1803, and
again in 1807, when they were just north of
King's Chapel. After the second fire Bowen left
Boston, and Doyle continued by himself. About
181 1, Abel Bowen, a son of Daniel, determined
to take up the trade of making woodcuts, and
oddly enough his first commercial venture was a
cut to be used by Doyle as an advertisement.
Wm M. S. DOYLE
Miniature and Profile Painter
Tremont Street, Boston, next House north of the
Stone-Chapel, the late residence of R. G. Amory,
esq. Continues to execute Likenesses in Miniature
and Profile of various sizes (the latter in shade or
natural colours) in a style peculiarly striking and
elegant, whereby the most forcible animation is
obtained.
Some are finished on composition, in the manner
of the celebrated Miers, of London,
'.'Prices of Profiles — from 25 cents to I, 2 & 5
dollars.
Miniatures — 12 , i$f 18 and 20 dollars,
Dec. 17. [1811]1
1My thanks are due to Miss H. C. Cattanach for bringing this
advertisement to my attention.
AND SILHOUETTES 45
Doyle made most of his silhouettes in the
manner of his predecessors ; sometimes they were
cut out of black paper and pasted on a card, and
sometimes he made them of white paper, with
theportrait holebacked with blackpaper. Which
way our silhouette of Bishop Cheverus was cut is
hard to tell, but the face of the Bishop stands forth
in all its sweetness andstrength. Bishop Cheverus
was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Boston,
and was one of the best beloved citizens of the
town in the early years of the nineteenth century.
He was translated later to be Archbishop of
Bordeaux, then one of the highest offices of the
church in France. He never forgot Boston and
his friends there, and few citizens of that town
ever visited Paris without receiving great kind-
ness from the Archbishop. Doyle did other sil-
houettes, though they are not numerous. Among
the more famous is one of Samuel Foster, a sol-
dier of the Revolution and member of the Boston
Tea Party.
Before passing on to the great lights of the
46 WAX PORTRAITS
thirties and forties, Edouart and Brown, there
are a few isolated facts which seem worthy of
mention. At the American Antiquarian Society
in Worcester, Massachusetts, are three profile
portraits, gilt on a background of black, which
appear to be painted on glass. The names of the
artists are appended to these portraits, and give
them an added value, as they bring to mind some
famous names. The silhouettes of Madison and
Gallatin are marked "C. P. Polk, fecit," and
were done by Charles Peale Polk, a nephew of
Charles Willson Peale. He, like his uncle, was
more known as an artist than as a silhouettist,
and is chiefly famous for his portrait of Washing-
ton, of which he made some fifty copies. The
other silhouette at Worcester is marked "A. P.
Doolittle, fecit," and may perhaps have been
done by Amos Doolittle, of New Haven, one of
our early engravers. In the catalogue of an
exhibit by the Colonial Dames of Maryland,
in 191 1, there is mention of two other silhouettes
of this kind, representing members of the Briscoe
AND SILHOUETTES 47
family.1 As they are called "gold silhouettes,"
they may perhaps have been done with beer and
soot. The portrait of Lucy Ames Wheeler rep-
resents the commoner way of making a silhouette
on glass. An oval was outlined in gilt on glass,
and the space outside the oval was filled out to
the frame with black. The portrait was then
painted in black within the oval, and a white card
was placed behind it to emphasize the black.
This simple form which the leaner pocketbooks
of our ancestors forced us on this side of the
Atlantic to indulge in, really lasted longer than
the more pretentious English ones with their
backing of wax or plaster. Glass profiles in
black are not as common as the life-size portraits
which were painted on glass in color, such as the
George and Martha Washington, which are often
found done in this way.
The same exhibition catalogue contains the
name of Dewey, a silhouettist unknown to us at
theNorth ; hemade aportrait in black of Ambrose
1 Owned by Mrs. Cradock, Pikesville, Md.
48 WAX PORTRAITS
Clark1 in 1800. There is a second silhouette made
by him in Salisbury, Maryland.2
Naturally portraits of Washington have always
had greater interest for the collector than those
of any other American. This fact has brought
to light the names of many early silhouettists who
might otherwise have sunk into the night of
oblivion. J. F. Vallee and S. Folwell, in Phila-
delphia, made silhouettes of him in India ink,
and Sarah ( ?) De Hart cut him with scissors.
There is a very attractive silhouette of Washing-
ton in Wansey's Travels, but by an unknown
person. Its printing, by woodcut on rather rough
paper, gives it a charming softness of appearance.
Samuel Powell, again a Philadelphian, made
silhouettes from shadows cast by a lamp. More
and more as the facts come to light is one im-
pressed by the great popularity of the shade in
times past.
Another interesting type of silhouette is that
1 Owned by Mrs. William A. Fisher, Baltimore.
3 Mrs. William Graham, owned by L. M. Gunby.
GEORGE PHILLIPS PARKER
Auguste Edouart
OWNED BY MISS MARIAN JEFFRIES, BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 49
painted in color on paper. The frontispiece of
this monograph is a delightful example of this
style, and is particularly interesting in that it rep-
resents John Erving, Esq., his wife, Maria Cath-
arina, and their daughter Abigail. Mrs. Erving
was the daughter of Lieutenant General William
Shirley, one of the Colonial governors. The
whole style of the picture is delightful, with its
soft color, its quaint grouping and costume. The
usual form of these coloredsilhouettes wasmerely
the head and shoulders. These were most often
framed in squareblack lacquer with an oval open-
ing in the center, embellished by a rim of brass or
gilt which being cut in long tongues at the back
served to hold the silhouette in place. None of
these silhouettes is signed except one which comes
from the town of Richmond, Massachusetts. It
has its maker's initials upon the back, with the
statement that he has sent the better of the two
which he had painted. It represents a man in a
black coat, the folds of which are accentuated by
applying the black paint so thickly that it shines.
50 WAX PORTRAITS
The inner waistcoat is very stiff, and with the
collar is carefully striped blue and white. The
complexion is florid and brownish in tone, per-
haps indicating that the man was tanned. The
hair is carefully and wonderfully painted, and
has the part running across the top of the head.
The colors are in a most perfect condition, for
they appear never to have been exposed to the
light.1 It is fortunate for the history of the art
that the story of this rather obscure follower
should be known. An aged inhabitant of the
town wrote down her recollections of the man
who painted the profiles, and a most interesting
tale it is.
"These are the facts as to those silhouettes:
On March 4th, 1806, Martin Griffing, aged 22
years, while painting the steeple of the Congre-
gational Church, fell to the ground and broke his
back, and was picked up for dead, but rallied and
lived to be 75 ; he never walked again. He picked
up this work of making these profiles, as he called
1 Owned by R. Henry W. D wight, Esq., of Boston.
JANE E. C. AND GEORGE W. CHAPMAN
Auguste Edouart
OWNED BY MISS J. E. C. CHAPMAN, CAMBRIDGE
AND SILHOUETTES 51
them, and invented some machine for thepurpose ;
most of them were plain black, though he painted
some of them, which we have now. He began the
work as soon as he was able to ride about, and
cleared the first year $1,500. He worked in this
(Berkshire) and some adjoining counties; also
in Vermont and New York State.
" While cleaning the garret, we found an en-
velope with 25 or more silhouettes of ministers
he had kept together, and with their names. He
worked at this for about two years, I think, or until
he covered quite a territory, but it finally became
tiresome for him to ride so much, as there were
no railroads, so he picked up the trade of shoe-
making and cobbled at his home in this town until
he was past 70 years old." x
During the twenties at Bowdoin, and doubtless
at other colleges, the silhouette was used for class
pictures, and class albums were as much a part
of a senior's life then as they are at present. The
College Library is fortunate to possess the silhou-
1From the Dwight Collection (Americana).
52 WAX PORTRAITS
ette albums of the classes of 1824, 1825, and 1826,
for these were interesting days at the college.
The album of 1824 is bound in morocco and has
alternate black and white leaves. The silhouettes
are cut as Peale's and Bache's were — holes in the
white paper, with the alternate black leaves serv-
ing as a background. These class profiles are
particularly interesting, as they contain among
their number Franklin Pierce, afterwards Presi-
dent of the United States, and Calvin E. Stowe,
later famous as the husband of Harriet Beecher.
The silhouettes of the class of 1826 are loose
sheets unmounted, but one can still find among
them the youthful face of William Pitt Fessen-
den, the famous senator from Maine. The most
interesting of all is the profile of Henry Wads-
worth Longfellow as a senior in 1825. I* 1S m"
teresting to place the portraits of our two poets
Whittier and Longfellow side by side, and to
realize how utterly different their youthful faces
are from the likenesses to which we have grown
accustomed.
AND SILHOUETTES 53
These albums must have had a considerable
vogue, for there is one in Boston1 containing some
silhouettes marked by Peale and Bache, and
another in Baltimore.2 In the former case the
two outer corners of the sheets are tipped with
glue, so that some hard substance would have
to be inserted between the black leaf and the
white, during the cutting. The album contains
silhouettes of many statesmen, friends of the
Josiah Quincy of that day.
There are two unsigned silhouettes which have
been included among the illustrations here be-
cause the people who are pictured are interesting
and the silhouettes themselves are delightful.
One is a small bust of our war governor, John A.
Andrew. The other is of Judge James Kings-
bury, the first settler of Cleveland, Ohio. He
and his family started by wagon across New
York State. They drove a cow with them, for
Mrs. Kingsbury had a small baby. During the
1 Owned by Mrs. M. A. DeWolfe Howe.
8 Miss E. K. Barnard.
54 WAX PORTRAITS
long journey a heavy snowstorm came up, so
heavy that the cow could get no nourishment, and
died of starvation ; the little baby died in conse-
quence. This trouble and sorrow almost make us
forgive him for his extremely stodgy appearance.
As was true of the wax portrait modeller, so it
appears to be true of silhouettists, that the men
who ended a period reached the highest level.
In America the art of silhouette cutting culmi-
nates with two men, Auguste Edouart, a French-
man, and William Henry Brown, an American.
Edouart was born in France in 1788, and after
following the fortunes of Napoleon, found refuge
in London in 18 15. For some time he earned his
living by teaching French, but as the refugees
became more numerous and competition greater,
he was forced to abandon this occupation for one
less crowded. At first he made portraits out of
hair, which he called mosaics, his subjects being
both human and canine. He subsisted in this
fashion until his wife's death in 1825, when he
lost all ambition, and as his means of livelihood
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER
OWNED BY MRS. WALTER G. CHASE, BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 55
failed he became much depressed. The story of
his chance interest in silhouettes is worth record-
ing, because it is a true exemplification of "Great
oaks from little acorns grow." One day while
visiting friends at tea the younger members of
the family brought in some silhouettes which they
had that day had taken by a machine at the coun-
try fair. Edouart, interested, remarked that he
himself could do better. Egged on by the young
people, he proved his contention, and in conse-
quence began the career by which he became
known on both sides of the Atlantic. His first
full-length portrait was of Dr. Majendie, Bishop
of Bangor. It was such a success that the Doctor
had forty copies made. Soon after he began his
career, he injured his index finger while assisting
a lady over a stile. Her dress caught on a nail
which protruded, and while endeavoring to
remedy the trouble he was hurt severely. The
finger gave him great distress, and he was unable
to go on with his business, until one night he
dreamed that he could cut as well by using his
56 WAX PORTRAITS
middle finger. Thereafter he always cut with
his second finger as long as he worked; in fact,
there is an old daguerreotype which shows him
holding his scissors in that fashion. At the begin-
ning of his career, when his fame had not become
that of a real artist, he had to endure much social
obloquy. A "shade man" was no better, at the
time, than any beggar or pedlar; so that he had
often to endure cold looks and snubs from former
acquaintances. But this season was short, for his
real genius began to be appreciated, and he him-
self was soon taken back into favor. He travelled
all over England and visited Scotland and Ire-
land. It seems safe to say that nearly all the great
men of his day in the British Isles had their por-
traits cut by him.
He took his art most seriously, so seriously, in
fact, that he issued a book in 1835. The volume
is called, "A Treatise on Silhouette Likenesses by
Monsieur Edouart, Silhouettist to the French
Royal Family, and patronized by His Royal
Highness, the late Duke of Gloucester and the
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, I 825
OWNED BY THE BOWDOIN COLLEGE LIBRARY
AND SILHOUETTES £7
principal Nobility of England, Scotland, and
Ireland." In this book Edouart makes an appeal
for the art in its purity, for he says that the black
shade is the essential, and accessories detract from
what should be the real effect. It should be the
true shadow of the man or woman in question.
Such silhouettes as the one of Abigail Winship
Robbins, with black face and white mobcap,
caused him the greatest irritation, and in his
final tirade against such things he hurls forth,
"I should not be surprised that by and by those
negro faces will have blue or brown eyes, rosy
lips and cheeks, which I am sure would have a
more striking appearance for those who are fond
of such bigarrades." As it was the day of paint-
ing on glass, perhaps those who indulged in such
"bigarrades" may have had some excuse for
decking their shades in color. It was Edouart,
by the way, who finally christened the shade a
"silhouette."
Edouart was so prolific that in the ten years
before he published his book he cut nearly fifty
58 WAX PORTRAITS
thousand silhouettes. He sold the silhouettes of
celebrated characters for three shillings. His
prices varied a little from time to time, but the
scale was in general much as follows :
Full length
5/
Sitting
7/
Children under 8
3/6
Bust
2/6
"Families were attended at theirown residences,"
and accessories such as harps, hobby horses, etc.,
were charged in proportion. He was a gentleman
in all his ways, and ever and always refused to
sell a lady's picture to strangers. Many and in-
teresting were the means taken by the young men
to get pictures of pretty girls, but they were never
successful where Edouart was concerned.
In 1839, Edouart set sail for America, and he
spent the next ten years here, cutting silhouettes
at the rate of manyhundred a year. Heprospered
greatly and his opportunities for meeting the
famous men of the day must have made his life
interesting and varied. The silhouette group of
JUDGE JAMES KINGSBURY, THE FIRST SETTLER OF CLEVELAND, OHIO
OWNED BY MRS. WALTER G. CHASE, BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 59
Daniel Webster and Jonathan Phillips sitting
together is very dignified, restful, and impressive.
Perhaps it might be said here that Edouart pre-
ferred to cut the whole figure, because he con-
tended that the proportion of the figure, the
manner of dress, and the attitude were of as much
importance in delineating the character as was
the face. Groups gave an opportunity for con-
trast in proportion, and were therefore much
esteemed by him. One has only to look at the
Abbott Lawrence or the Smith group to realize
the truth of the statement. These he has rendered
still more attractive by the room, drawn in sepia,
in which he placed his portraits. The Abbott
Lawrence family are grouped in their library on
Park Street, Boston, which is so well drawn that
those who are privileged to penetrate the inner
precincts of the Union Club recognize it at once.
His cleverness in cutting is best shown in the
portrait of an "Unknown man" which is not cut
in exact profile, but alittle turned away. Another
Boston group which is of interest is that of the
60 WAX PORTRAITS
Rev. John Pierpont and his first wife, Mary
Sheldon Lord. Between them stands their little
granddaughter, Mary Lord Pierpont, afterwards
Mrs. James Crosby, toward whom each grand-
parent extends an admonishing finger. The sil-
houette was taken at the time when Mr. Pierpont
was minister at the Hollis Street Church, and
shows him in his robes of office, very solemn
and stern. Often, when the background was not
washed in in sepia, the portrait was mounted on
a lithographed card. George Phillips Parker is
an example of this kind; what could better hold
up a mirror to the times than this same silhouette
and its background? Here are the ladies in their
bonnets and shawls, the men in their high collars,
and Mr. Parker lecturing on temperance, the
great new movement then sweeping over the coun-
try and laying the ax at the root of many a flour-
ishing apple orchard. The Chapman children
finish the series of pictures of the costumes of
the time: the little girl in full skirt and panta-
lettes, holding a crooked stemmed rose ; the boy
AND SILHOUETTES 6l
stiff in small size men's clothes, standing with his
hoop.
Edouart visited every large city in the United
States during the ten years he spent here, but he
did a vast deal at Saratoga in 1841 and 1842.
After ten years he determined to return to Eng-
land, and so set sail in the Oneida in 1849. He
had a very rough voyage, and was finally ship-
wrecked on the Islandof Guernsey. On the island
he was befriended by a family who did much for
him ; v^hen he was about to resume his journey,
he presented the daughter, Frederica Lukens, all
the volumes of his silhouettes, fourteen in num-
ber, which had been rescued from the shipwreck.
Edouart had always cut his silhouettes in dupli-
cate, one of which he pasted, with the sitter's
autograph, in a huge scrap-book. Most of these
books went down with the Oneida, but some of
the American books were saved. For many years
the rescued books lay hidden in the Island of
Guernsey until they were finally brought to light
and sold during the past year. And Edouart,
62 WAX PORTRAITS
broken in health and in spirit, betook himself
to a small town near Calais, where he spent the
few remaining years of his life. He never cut
any more portraits, so that the work which he did
in America was his last.
That Edouart was a real artist few will deny,
and he was so serious in it that he never descended
to caricature, an obviously easy way to express
his meaning. He had a great aptitude for seizing
the salient point of a face or figure, and in his
silhouettes a gesture, a pose, or an arrested move-
ment often gave his portraits a more than photo-
graphic likeness.
Just now, because of the sale of his duplicates,
Edouart is having great vogue, and is somewhat
pushing into the background our own native-born
genius, William Henry Brown, who was at least
a good second, if not his equal, in the art. Brown
was born in 1808 in Charleston, South Carolina,1
and was like Patience Wright, of Quaker ances-
*See Charles Henry Hart's article in the Outlook for October 6,
1900.
m
ABIGAIL WINSHIP ROBBINS
OWNED BY MISS ELLEN A. STONE, LEXINGTON
AND SILHOUETTES 63
try. He began early to show his inclination for
the work to which he was destined. His first por-
trait of importance was a silhouette of Lafayette,
done during his last visit to this country. Brown,
like Edouart, preferred to cut the whole figure,
and he soon became so popular that he had a set
of lithographed backgrounds as did Edouart.
John Randolph of Roanoke is probably set in the
surrounding chosen by himself as most char-
acteristic.
Brown was quicker in his cutting than Edouart,
his time varying from one minute to five. He had
an eye which took in the subject instantaneously,
and it is said of him that he never forgot, and
that years after he could duplicate his pictures
from memory. He did not always use a back-
ground, but sometimes a wash of black to sug-
gest the ground, as in the horseback picture of
John Parker, Jr.
Edouart's silhouettes are cut with more ele-
gance than Brown's, but the latter's are on the
whole as convincingly true to life. Brown cut
64 WAX PORTRAITS
the silhouettes of as famous people of this coun-
try as did Edouart, and in addition he cut very
elaborate compositions. Volunteer fire engine
companies "adored" to be cut in silhouette, with
all their apparatus. One composition of this
kind in St. Louis was twenty-five feet long, and
contained the portrait of every member of the
company.
Brown was so quick in getting a likeness that
he often surprised people by showing them sil-
houettes of themselves when they had been totally
unconscious that they had posed for him. He
could catch and cut a passerby in the street.
He gained money easily and spent it as easily,
so that he never grew rich from his work.
Mr. Charles Henry Hart, in his charming arti-
cle, "The Last of the Silhouettists,"1 speaks of
Brown from a personal encounter with the man
in 1874, in the mountains of Pennsylvania. He
says that "he was of fair height and massive
frame, but these failed to conceal the unusual
Outlook, October 6, 1900.
o
r §
s %
>
AND SILHOUETTES 65
magnitude of his head, which put to shame
Daniel Webster's famous 'size 8' hat. One fea-
ture of his face was noticeable to even an ordinary
observer, and that was the abnormally wide dis-
tance between his two eyes, which was, as he said,
his one point of resemblance to George Wash-
ington. He was a fluent and agreeable talker;
indeed, he was such a conversationalist that he
was admitted into close companionship with the
prominent men of his day, most of whom were
cut by him ; and his reminiscences were highly
entertaining."
In 1846, Brown published a book which he
called the "Portrait Gallery of Distinguished
American Citizens, with Biographical Sketches."
It was issued at Hartford, Connecticut, by E. B.
& E. C. Kellog, and is now rare, as most of the
edition was burned. Among those who appear
in the book are Chief Justice John Marshall,
John Quincy Adams, Richard Channing Moore,
Andrew Jackson, John Forsyth, William Henry
Harrison, John C. Calhoun, De Witt Clinton,
66 WAX PORTRAITS
and many others. Calhoun wrote to Brown, as
quoted in his book, "I take pleasure in bearing
testimony to your great aptitude in taking like-
nesses in your way."
The likeness of John Randolph of Roanoke
is reproduced from Brown's book, for we are so
fortunate as to have a copy in Boston at the Public
Library. The volume is well worth study, and has
several very interesting characteristics. All the
silhouettes face to the right, and all have elabo-
rate lithographed backgrounds. Daniel Webster
stands with his hands in his pockets ; his hair and
the outline of his clothes are touched with white.
The portrait of Bishop White has an interesting
background in the book, though the copy from
which our illustration is taken has none. The
silhouette of Dr. Thomas Cooper, who was a
famous South Carolina chemist, shows his trou-
sers tied at the bottom, so that they have the
appearance of ruffles.
Although it is not so recorded, Brown must
have cut the silhouette of Dr. Prince, of Salem,
AND SILHOUETTES 67
and you can feel as you look at his grim face that
sinners would receive short shrift if they relied
upon his tender mercies. Salem, indeed, offered
a rich harvest for Brown, and the Essex Institute
there has many examples of his work, which in
the mass are exceedingly clever. In 1859, when
the camera finally put to flight this more human
means of taking likenesses, Brown dropped his
work and entered the employ of the Huntington
and Broadtop Railroad. The "last of the silhou-
ettists" died in his native city, Charleston, on
September 16, 1883, and with him ended the his-
tory of those in our country whose work is known
to fame. There are, however, silhouettists among
us still. Some thirty years ago, at one of the fairs
which was held in the huge building of the
New England Manufacturers' and Mechanics'
Association in Boston, there appeared a cutter
who was very skillful. His silhouettes were done
with the scissors, with black paper in duplicate,
and pasted on cards. That Mechanics' Building,
on the site of the Huntington Avenue ballground,
68 WAX PORTRAITS
was burned in 1886, and the rivalry between it
and the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic
Association ceased; the great fairs then came to
an end, and the silhouette cutter went his way.
Within the past ten years, James H. Pleasants,
another man who lives by the magic in his scissors,
has visited Boston and plied his trade in an art
store on Boylston Street. But the silhouette cutter
comes rarely now, and the reviving "shadow
picture" is made by mechanical means, either
by drawing or with the camera.
Nearly every silhouettist advertised that he
would sell shades of famous people whom he had
cut. Edouart and Brown, with magic in their
scissors and a memory that was phenomenal,
could make duplicates without trouble. It was
the poor artist who used mechanical aids to whom
this branch of his work brought terror. It was
easy to make the first silhouette with a machine,
but difficult to make copies in number. John J.
Hawkins, a London silhouettist, wrote in 1803
to Charles Willson Peale describing his method:
AND SILHOUETTES 69
"I have made great improvements in the art
of multiplying Profiles. I take any paper profile
& varnish it with thick shell lac varnish; then
lay a piece of paper with this varnished Profile
on it in the brass frame in which the profiles are
taken, & black the paper thro the varnished Pro-
file on to the other paper. The brush I use is one
of the softest kind of common painting brushes,
about as thick as my finger, the hairs are tied up
very tight to within an eighth of an inch of the
end, & the end is then cut or ground quite flat;
a more elastic brush will not produce so perfect
an outline. The black I use is the smoke of a
candle, received on a metal plate, mixed with
glue size and used almost dry, for if there is
moisture enough to pucker the paper much, the
outline will be ragged. I give you a few speci-
mens in this letter. I often cut these out to put
them on black glass." He enclosed with his letter
specimens made by what we should call a paper
stencil, and also others made by a different kind
of stencil. He says that some were "etched
70 WAX PORTRAITS
through very thin brass ; if the brass is not as thin
as paper the aqua fortis will close the mouth too
much." He gives seven copies of one exceedingly
small silhouette, not more than seven-sixteenths
of an inch in height, which he etched from thin
silver. The stencil is such a commonplace with
us in these modern days that it seems strange
that it should be necessary to explain at length
such a simple method.
Many of the older cutters advertised their work
as the basis of illustration for books, and many
examples were used as such. Paul Konewka, a
German, in his short life of thirty years made
illustrative silhouettes for Shakespeare's plays.
They were wonderfully characteristic and those
for the Midsummer Night's Dream have become
famous. He died in 1871, but the fashion he set
has still persisted in his native land, for there is
seldom a life of Schiller or Goethe published
now which is not illustrated by silhouettes. In
our own country Howard Pyle used the silhou-
ette very effectively, and just now every art
UNKNOWN MAN
Augmte Edouart
OWNED BY DWIGHT M. PROUTY, ESQ., BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 71
journal contains illustrative specimens by men
and women who are again using this kind of
illustration. Brown's silhouette of Chief Justice
Marshall was of great assistance to Story in mod-
elling his statue for the Capitol at Washington ;
and now the reference library of the National
Portrait Gallery in London is collecting silhou-
ettes as a means to identify unknown portraits.
Many silhouettes of famous men are hung in the
galleries abroad for their great value as likenesses.
So the value of the silhouette is coming to be
more and more recognized.
And thus the golden days of wax portraits and
silhouettes passed away ; for years few made them,
and only those who cared for heirlooms treasured
them. Yet as we study them their charm grows,
and we wonder what our generation can produce
which will surpass the fascination of these quaint
portraits. No photographic art, however high,
can supplant the genius of the true craftsman in
the interpretation of personality.
72 WAX PORTRAITS
A RECORD OF WAX PORTRAITS
Wax portraits are comparatively so few in number
that a first attempt at a register of them seems feasible,
and it is well to preserve a brief description of such as
remain untouched by time. They are all profiles ex-
cept where otherwise noted.
DR. JAN EECKHOUT
Abraham Chovet, of Philadelphia, 1704-1790.
Colored wax, faces left; in alto-relievo, 4$ inches high; on
oval slate base, 5J x 4I inches. There is a reproduction of it in
Norris's History of Medicine in Philadelphia, p. 91, which shows
two hands holding a book; background, to right, seven shelves filled
with books; to left, a window with a curtain in three festoons above
and below a table upon which is a skull. In 1896 it fell from its
hanging and was badly fractured, so that what remains are the
figure, sans chin and right hand, the window and two folds of the
curtain and the two lowest shelves showing three books on each
shelf. Upon the back of the slate base is this incised inscription:
"Doctor M/halbraham/Chovet born/ in the year 1704/ the 25 May/
Drawn in the year 1784/ on the 25 int of May by/his Servant Dr/jan
Eeckhout/." This important inscription has been incorrectly given
in the book cited and by several others who have followed his
authority without verification by the original.
Eminent physician of Philadelphia. Arrived there in 1770,
from Jamaica, whither he had gone from his birthplace, England, and
in 1774 delivered the first public lectures on Anatomy and Physiology
given in this country, illustrated by wax figures that he made himself.
Mr. Hart says nothing is known of "Dr. jan Eeckhout" beyond
his name on this wax of Dr. Chovet, the orthography of which indi-
cates that he was a Hollander. But the work shows that he was an
accomplished modeller, with a fine artistic sense and no tyro at doing
portrait work. It is one of the most elaborate waxes known, full of
keen expression which the reproduction mentioned does not give, the
muscles of the face being minutely and accurately delineated, while
the remaining hand exhibits a knowledge of artistic anatomy of no
mean quality.
Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia.
BISHOP WILLIAM WHITE, OF PHILADELPHIA
William Henry Broivn
GIVEN BY MRS. WILLIAM H. WHITRIDGE, BALTIMORE,
TO THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA
AND SILHOUETTES 73
ROBERT BALL HUGHES
President William Henry Harrison, 1773-1841.
White wax, faces left, low relief; robe with a fur collar over
the shoulders. Was part of the gallery of portraits of the old
Boston Museum.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts;
Gift of Miss Helen F. Kimball.
Chief Justice John Marshall, 1755-1835.
White wax, full length; knee breeches and old-fashioned long
coat; the hair in a queue; one on a terra cotta background, the one
in New York unmounted. The story is that there were six copies of
this wax ; one has been lost, and one destroyed.
Mrs. Charles Marshall, Baltimore.
Mr. Douglas H. Thomas, Baltimore.
Association of the Bar, New York ; unmounted.
Mary Jane (Miller) Quincy, of Boston, 1806-1874.
White wax, faces left; hair dressed high behind in a braid,
two curls before the ear. Dress cut low with a button on the
shoulder ; mounted on red velvet. She was the wife of Josiah Quincy,
mayor of Boston.
Mrs. Mary Quincy Thorndike, Boston.
Elizabeth (Rotch) Rodman, 1757-1856.
White wax, faces left; cap, ruffle in front, band, and gathered
back; high collar with two ruffles; shawl; on red velvet in a red
leather case.
Mrs. Dudley L. Pickman, Boston.
Miss Emma Rodman, Nahant.
Mrs. George Hussey, New Bedford.
Samuel Rodman, of New Bedford, 1753-1835.
White wax, faces right ; curly hair ; smooth face.
Mrs. A. Lawrence Rotch, Boston.
Miss Emma Rodman, Nahant.
Mrs. George Hussey, New Bedford.
Andrew Robeson, of New Bedford, Mass., d. 1862.
White wax, faces left; rather long hair turned up in a curl,
parted very much on the side; side whiskers; bare neck; mounted
on red velvet.
Mrs. Andrew Robeson, Brookline, Mass.
74 WAX PORTRAITS
Anna (Rodman) Robeson, 1787-1848.
White wax, faces right; hair parted and drawn over ears;
a double ruffled cap, turned back in front, tied in a knot over the
ears and hanging in folds. Folds around the neck. Wife of the above.
Mrs. Andrew Robeson, Brookline, Mass.
William Rotch, Sr., of Nantucket, 1 734-1 828.
White wax, faces left; top of head bald; hair long and
straight; nose arched. Called "the king of Nantucket." A Quaker,
wore his hat when received by Louis XVI.
Mrs. A. Lawrence Rotch, Boston.
Miss Julia Rodman, New Bedford.
William Rotch, Jr., of New Bedford, 1759-1850.
White wax, faces left ; hair long, and follows curve of neck ;
thin locks over forehead; nose arched and prominent; eyebrows
heavy ; double chin.
Mrs. A. Lawrence Rotch, Boston.
(2 copies, one somewhat yellow.)
JOHN RANDOLPH, OF ROANOKE
William Henry Broivn
AND SILHOUETTES 75
GEORGE M. MILLER
Albert Gallatin, 1761-1849.
Exhibited at Philadelphia in 1813.
Talbot Hamilton.
Exhibited at Philadelphia in 1821.
Adam Kuhn, of Philadelphia, 1741-1817.
White wax, faces right; z\ inches high; eyes closed and from
expression evidently taken after death.
Eminent physician in Philadelphia and President of the Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons at the time of his death.
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Philadelphia.
Mrs. James Madison, 1767-1849.
Exhibited at Philadelphia in 1813.
Robert Oliver, of Baltimore, 1759-1834.
Colored wax; forehead high, with hair rolled back and tied
at the back of the neck with a black bow ; the coat has a high turned-
back collar, white waistcoat with long rolling collar, a high white
linen collar and stock. His features are handsome, clean shaven,
and well executed. Framed in black and gold. On the back is
written
"George Miller, Artist
No. 172 North Street
Baltimore, Md.
January 26th, 18 10."
Robert Oliver was born at "Troopersfield," near Lisburn, County
Antrim, Ireland. He came to Baltimore in 1783, and became an
exceedingly prosperous merchant.
Miss Fowler, Baltimore, Md.
Bishop William White, 1747-1836.
Exhibited at Philadelphia in 1814.
John Wilcox, 1 789-1 826.
Colored wax, faces right; 2% inches high; black coat, white
vest and neckcloth; brown hair.
Col. Joseph Wilcox, Philadelphia, Pa.
76 WAX PORTRAITS
William Wilson.
Colored wax; 3 inches high; mounted on glass. Signed
"G. M. Miller, 1815."
Joseph Lapsley Wilson, Esq., Overbrook, Pa.
William Wilson.
Colored wax; 3 inches high; mounted on plate. Signed
"G. M. Miller, sculp. 1819."
Joseph L. Wilson, Esq., Overbrook, Pa.
Mrs. Margaret Wilson.
Colored wax; 3 inches high. "Wonderful in color and detail,
but somewhat broken."
Joseph L. Wilson, Esq., Overbrook, Pa.
Unknown Man.
Colored wax, faces right; i\ inches high; blue coat and white
neckerchief; white hair. On the slate is written: "J. Wephous
Curiger fecit natu 1813." Does this mean a portrait of Curiger
made from life in 1813?
Bloomfield Moore Collection, Memorial Hall,
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
AND SILHOUETTES 77
JOHN CHRISTIAN RAUSCHNER
Rev. Thomas Barnard, of Salem, 1748-1814.
Colored wax, faces right; gown and bands; black hair turned
up with a curl ; pinkish yellow flesh, gray eyes. Minister of the
North Church, Salem, 1773-1814.
Three copies:
Essex Institute — somewhat broken;
North Church — perfect.
Dr. John Orne Green, Boston.
William Biglow, 1773-1844, of Salem, Boston, and Natick.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat and white stock; brown
hair and pink flesh. Done in 1810. He was a preacher, poet and
schoolmaster. Bacon's Natick has a silhouette of him.
Essex Institute, Salem.
Benjamin Bussey, 3D, 1781-1808.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat; white waistcoat, frilled
shirt front, collar, and neck-cloth; blue eyes; hair brown, brushed
forward, and tied in a short queue.
Lawrence Park, Esq., Groton, Mass.
Elizabeth Brown Conover, 18 10.
Colored wax, faces right; 4$ inches high, showing right arm
and left hand over it, with large jewelled ring on forefinger; dark
hair and eyes; in lace cap tied at top with bow of natural ribbon;
black gown with long sleeves and white lace bertha with three tiers
of ruffles. The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Conover are owned by their
great-great-great-granddaughter. They were of Dutch extraction
and the Holland name was Couwenhoven.
Mrs. S. Megargee Wright, Philadelphia.
Joseph Conover, 18 10.
Colored wax, faces left; 3$ inches high; black coat with four
large brass buttons; high black vest and standing white collar, and
white neckcloth; hair and eyes light brown.
Mrs. S. Megargee Wright, Philadelphia.
Benjamin Daland, of Salem, 1807-1841.
Colored wax, faces right. About twenty-five to thirty years old.
Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
78
WAX PORTRAITS
Thomas Dawes, 1783-1828.
Colored wax, faces left ; white stock.
Mrs. Arthur O. Fuller, Cambridge.
Lucy (Lord) (Staniford) Dutch, of Salem, 1765-1846.
Colored wax, faces left; white muslin dress, cap of real lace
and guimpe of lace; hands crossed.
Mrs. Frances Gilman, Portland, Me.
Mould for this portrait owned by
Thomas Todd, Esq., Concord, Mass.
Warren Safford, Esq., Hudson, Mass.
Rev. Asa Eaton, of Boston, 177 8-1 8 5 6.
Colored wax, faces left; black hair; surplice, black stole and
high stock; mounted on red velvet.
Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston.
Ebenezer Eaton, of Boston, 1767-1829.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, white waistcoat, frill,
and stock; hair brushed forward, queue tied with a bow. He built
"Eaton's folly," a great brick dwelling on Eaton Street, Boston.
A. P. Baker, Esq., Boston.
Joseph Eaton, of Boston, 1774-1809.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, white stock, waistcoat and
tie; brown hair, brushed toward the front, slight side whiskers;
rather pale complexion; high eyebrows; a very handsome young
man.
Miss Lucy Eaton, Boston.
Mary (Allen) Eaton, of Boston, 1777-1818.
Colored wax, faces right; white dress with lace frill around
the neck; turban; hair brushed forward in an irregular bang;
pearl ring on forefinger, and a pink rose in the hand ; long earrings.
She sits in a black Chippendale chair, with mother of pearl orna-
ments. She has great dignity of pose.
A. P. Baker, Esq., Boston.
David Forst, of Philadelphia.
Colored wax, faces left; brown hair and queue; front hair
brushed forward and curled back; black coat, white stock and
waistcoat; brown eyes, long face, hook nose, long chin and straight
REV. DR. JOHN PRINCE, OF SALEM
William Henry Brown
OWNED BY MISS CLARA ENDICOTT SEARS, BOSTON
AND SILHOUETTES 79
mouth; distinct wrinkles at the corners of the mouth. Originally
mounted on sage green silk.
Henry Pinner Curtis, Newton, Mass.
Richea (Luria) Forst, of Philadelphia.
Colored wax, faces right; black hair, brushed back, and done
in a psyche knot; a tortoise-shell comb holds back a curl that falls
before the ear; brown dress, with puffed sleeves and shirred waist;
brown girdle; white lace, now brown, tucker, formerly held by a
brooch at the neck; gold hoop earrings; sallow complexion, long
face, black eyes, and very red lips. Originally mounted on sage
green silk. Her mother was Araguina Luria.
Henry Pinner Curtis, Newton, Mass.
Colonel Daniel Lewis Gibbens, of Boston, 1786-1853.
Colored wax, faces left; black dress coat, white stock, lace
frill missing; reddish brown hair, cut short, short side whiskers;
fair complexion, blue eyes.
Joseph McKean Gibbons, Jamaica Plain.
Mary (King) Gibbens, 1789-1817.
Colored wax, faces right; dotted muslin dress, with wax lace
around the sleeve and a double rufHe around the square-cut neck.
Brown hair dressed high with a comb of shell and seed pearls; curls
in the neck and on the forehead ; hoop earrings, blue eyes, and a ring
with pearls all around on the left forefinger. Beautiful flesh tints.
Mrs. Mary King Lee- Warner, London, formerly
owned by Mrs. Annie Frobisher Wildman,
Newton, Mass.
Catherine (Comerford) (Hillier) Graupner, i769?-i82i.
Colored wax, faces left; plain white dress with wax lace at
neck and sleeves. Brown hair, dressed in curls with two gold combs,
one bordered with seed pearls. Hands clasped with large ring on
right forefinger. Earrings in daisy pattern of seed pearls and gold.
A most stiff and haughty dame. She was born in London, England,
and became an opera singer of note as Mrs. Heelyer. She married
her second husband, Mr. Graupner, in Charleston, S. C.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts;
Gift of Miss Louise C. D. Stoddard.
Johann Christian Gottlieb Graupner, of Boston, 1767-1836.
Colored wax, faces right; black coat, with metal buttons,
white stock, tie and inner vest yellow; pink complexion, gray hair
80 WAX PORTRAITS
brushed forward and tied in a queue. He was a player of the oboe,
but could perform on any instrument. He was one of the founders
of the Handel and Haydn Society.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts;
Gift of Miss Louise C. D. Stoddard.
Oliver Holden, of Charlestown, Mass., 1765-1844.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, white stock; gray-black
hair.
Frank J. Lawton, Esq., Shirley, Mass.
Hannah Paschall Hollings worth, of Philadelphia, 1744-.
Colored wax; gray dress, thin white shawl; very thin cap of
white muslin showing her hair and ear, tied under the chin and at
the back with a little bow; hair brown, clear complexion.
Miss Catharine W. Morris, Harriton, Bryn
Mawr, Pa.
Levi Hollingsworth, of Philadelphia, 1739-1824.
Colored wax; gray coat, and vest a shade darker; red cravat
with white dots, white stock; iron gray hair, worn long, head slightly
bald; complexion fair, clean shaven, heavy eyebrows; clear-cut face
with much character. Born in Cecil Co., Maryland. Both the Hol-
lingsworth waxes have upon the back, written in ink,
"Rauschner fee.
Chatham Street
No. 41
New York"
Miss Catharine W. Morris, Harriton, Bryn
Mawr, Pa.
Leonard Kip, of Kips Bay, New York, 1768-1843.
Colored wax, faces right; black coat, white stock; black hair.
Leonard Kip Storrs, D.D., Brookline, Mass.
Governor John Lambert, of Amwell, New Jersey, 1746-1823.
Colored wax, faces right; high forehead, heavy eyebrows,
nose somewhat turned up, a strong mouth and chin. Black coat,
white stock and tie. Two copies, one of which was presented to
Governor Bloomfield.
Jerusha Lambert Shoemaker.
Thomas Seabrook, Passaic, N. J.
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AND SILHOUETTES 8l
Daniel Lang, of Salem, 1784-1826.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, white stock; black hair;
resembles his father.
Essex Institute, Salem.
Dolly (Wood) Lang, of Salem, 1784-1867.
Colored wax, faces right; white dotted muslin dress, with
guimpe of white lace put on; earrings, jewelled comb in her brown
hair, and curl in front of her ear; blue flower on breast; flesh very
white.
Essex Institute, Salem.
Hannah Lang, of Salem, 1782-1845.
Colored wax, faces left; white dotted muslin dress, gathered
guimpe; black hair, with curls on forehead, and comb; hoop ear-
rings ; looks like her father.
Essex Institute, Salem.
Nathaniel Lang, of Salem, 1757-1824.
One of a group of five comprising himself, his wife and three
children. Done in 1810.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, brown waistcoat, and
white stock ; queue of black hair, pink flesh, and high hooked nose.
Essex Institute, Salem.
Nathaniel Lang, Jr., of Salem, 1780-1851.
Colored wax, faces left; brown coat; brown hair, pink flesh;
rather stout, looks like his mother.
Essex Institute, Salem.
Governor Levi Lincoln, 1 749-1 820.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, high collar, white stock,
ruffled shirt; bald on the forehead and on top of his head, grayish
hair and blue eyes.
Waldo Lincoln, Esq., Worcester, Mass.
James Smith Lovell, of Boston, 1762-1826.
Colored wax, faces left; coat yellow gray; high white stock
and collar, white waistcoat and ruffled shirt; short powdered hair;
gray eyes. Two copies.
Miss Emma Lovell Loring, Brookline, Mass.
Mansfield Lovell, Esq., San Francisco, Cal.
82 WAX PORTRAITS
Richard Lush, of Manlius, New York.
Colored wax, faces left; brown coat, white stock and long
white tie; snub nose, bald head, and hair hanging over coat. In
small round black frame.
Mrs. Henry Ware, Brookline, Mass.
Colonel Benjamin Pickman, of Salem.
Colored wax, faces left; brown hair touched with gray, queue;
frill of lace in front, stock, black coat retouched ; beautifully done.
Essex Institute, Salem.
John Pierce, of Dorchester, Mass.
Colored wax, faces left; dark clothes in high relief; poor
condition, remounted on paper.
Miss Mary Patterson, Boston.
Nancy (Bates) Pierce, of Boston.
Colored wax, faces right; dotted muslin dress; rose in hand;
rings; front and back comb with seed pearls; brown hair in a ban-
deau; brown eyes.
Miss Mary Patterson, Boston.
Judge Joseph Read, of Burlington and Mount Holly, N. J.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, with buttonholes showing;
white frill and stock; a large man, with slightly hooked nose, promi-
nent chin, and full over the eyes; straight reddish gray hair, slightly
long behind. There is a family tradition that they were done by
Miss Julia Latrobe of Baltimore, but are in the manner of Rauschner.
Mounted on black velvet.
Rev. W. G. Read, Brighton, Mass.
General Samuel Joseph Read, of Mount Holly, N. J.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat with h'gh collar; white
waistcoat, white stock ; sandy gray hair tied with black ; curls back
of the ear, and short side whiskers; complexion dark; full over the
eyes; well-shaped nose; mounted on black glass. Also attributed to
Miss Latrobe, but more like Rauschner than that of Judge Read.
Rev. W. G. Read, Brighton, Mass.
Aaron Storck, of Holland.
Colored wax, faces left; 3$ inches high; black coat, white
standing collar and large white neckerchief; yellowish white hair,
and dark eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Storck were the parents of Mr. Hart's
AND SILHOUETTES 83
paternal grandmother; they visited this country in 1810, and re-
turned to Holland the following year.
Charles Henry Hart, Esq., Philadelphia.
Jeannette Storck, of Holland.
Colored wax, faces right; 4$ inches high; showing right arm,
and left hand over it, with large jewelled ring on forefinger; dark
hair and eyes; lace cap trimmed with real silk ribbon, tied in a bow
at the top and another at the bottom behind the head ; white dotted
gown, low neck and short sleeves, with thin white neckerchief; gold
necklace and pearl earrings.
Charles Henry Hart, Esq., Philadelphia.
Governor Caleb Strong, 1745-1819.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, white stock; gray hair;
mounted on black felt, unframed; has been exposed to the air and
has shrunk and yellowed.
Dennison R. Slade, Esq., Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Governor James Sullivan, 1744-1808.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, white tie and cravat,
hair and wig white.
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
State House, Boston.
Mrs. John Langdon Sullivan, Boston.
Mrs. Alexander Cochrane, Boston.
Ingersoll Amory, Esq., Boston.
Miss E. M. Flagg, Roxbury, Mass.
Elizabeth (Hubbard) Sumner, 1770-1839.
Colored wax, faces left; cap, very transparent so that the hair
shows through, with insertion across front and a ruffle all around;
short-waisted black gown, with white girdle and white kerchief
clasped with an oval brooch of eight seed pearls. Her clasped arms
do not show as in most of Rauschner's portraits of ladies.
Mrs. Walter G. Horton, Brookline, Mass.
Thomas Waldron Sumner, 1768-1849.
Colored wax, faces left; brown hair, brushed to the front
with a bang, and short queue behind; black coat, white stock, neck-
cloth, and waistcoat.
Mrs. Walter G. Horton, Brookline, Mass.
84 WAX PORTRAITS
Henry Tolman, of Boston, 1781-.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, tall white collar and
cravat; red hair. The portraits were made in 1805.
Henry Tolman, Esq., Newton, Mass.
Lydia (Park) Tolman, of Boston, 1787-.
Colored wax; faces right; white dotted muslin dress, high
waist, puffed and long sleeves; hands crossed in her lap; she is
seated in a chair; hair done high; a frill around her neck. Originally
she had a high comb, and gold beads around her neck. These became
broken, and a ruff was substituted by a man who claimed to be the
grandson of the maker.
Henry Tolman, Esq., Newton, Mass.
Captain Luther Trowbridge, of Albany, 1756-1845.
Colored wax, faces left; hair in a queue; dark coat, with 5
buttons; white stock and ruffle.
Rev. Ephraim Ward, of West Brookfield, 1741-1818.
Colored wax, faces right; rather bald, with white hair in a
roll behind; ministerial robe, high stock and bands; a long face and
strong chin.
Clayton C. Hall, Esq., Baltimore.
Mary (Coleman) Ward, of West Brookfield, 1744-1809.
Colored wax, faces left; a cap bordered with fine lace, and
a flower on top; turned over lace collar, white guimpe, and a satin
gown with slashed sleeves; a ring on her finger, and a pin at the side
of her cap; fine, strong features.
Clayton C. Hall, Esq., Baltimore.
William Henry Whiting, of Hartford, Conn.
Colored wax, faces left; dark brown hair and "burnsides";
eyes dark brown; broad, rather low, forehead, high cheek bones,
small mouth, rounded chin; nose repaired by Miss Mundy; black
coat, white stock and frill. New background.
Mrs. I. W. Metcalf, Oberlin, O.
Eunice (Farley) Whitney, of Beverly, Mass., 1757-1809.
Colored wax, faces left; black widow's dress, black fringe
over arm, long sleeves; high white neckerchief; widow's cap, the
AND SILHOUETTES 85
back of wax, with a white tarleton ruffle, knife-plaited, tied with a
black ribbon in a bow behind ; the hands do not show.
Miss Augusta Lamb, Brookline, Mass.
Captain Nathan Winship, of Boston.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, high white stock, white
tie and frill; brunette complexion; very finely done.
Dwight M. Prouty, Esq., Boston.
Mildred (Gilmer) Wirt, of Virginia, d. 1839.
Colored wax, faces left; white lace guimpe, low black gown,
showing neck and arms; hair dark, arranged high upon her head;
eyes dark.
Mrs. William H. Whitridge, Baltimore, Md.
William Wirt, of Bladensburg, Md., 1772-18 34.
Colored wax, faces right; blue coat, white stock; dark hair
and eyes.
Mrs. William H. Whitridge, Baltimore, Md.
Unknown Man.
Colored wax, faces right; very high relief; black coat, white
shirt and vest; face has pasty complexion and is very flat, with fat
cheeks and high cheek bones.
Dwight M. Prouty, Esq., Boston.
RACHEL WELLS
Rev. George Whitefield, 1714-1770.
Mrs. Wells, a sister of Mrs. Patience Wright, is said to have
made a portrait in wax, given to Bethesda College. (Lee's Diet.
Nat. Biog. lxi. p. 92.) See also Colon. Soc. of Mass. Dec. 1906, p. 30.
86 WAX PORTRAITS
JOSEPH WRIGHT
George Washington, 1732-1799.
White wax, faces right; hair drawn back, and tied with a bow
behind; laurel wreath; 5x6 inches. Signed "J. Wright, fecit."
Made in 1784. A copy of this profile, life-size, reversed, in plaster
of Paris, hung in Washington's library at Mount Vernon, and now
belongs to General Custis Lee. Washington further showed his
esteem for Wright by appointing him the first engraver and die-
sinker in the mint, which position he held at the time of his death.
Reproduced in Mr. Hart's "Life Portraits of George Washington,"
McClure's Magazine, February, 1897, p. 295.
Benjamin R. Smith, Philadelphia, Pa.
PATIENCE WRIGHT
William Augustus Atlee, of Philadelphia, 1735-1793.
Full bust to right; ii inches high; curled hair; reproduced in
Barber's History of the Atlee Family, 1884, at which time it was
owned by Dr. John Light Atlee, of Lancaster, Pa. Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1791. As Judge
Atlee married a New Jersey woman at Elizabethtown in 1763, his
profile doubtless is the work of Patience Wright.
Walter Atlee, Washington.
Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790.
Black wax, faces left; long hair. Reproduced by Wedgwood.
Charles S. Bradford, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa.
George Washington, 1732-1799.
White wax, faces right; in uniform.
Dr. Richard H. Harte, Philadelphia, Pa.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Broken.
Rev. George Whitefield, 1714-1770.
A wax portrait. (Lee's Diet. Nat. Biog. lxi. p. 92.) Mr.
Albert Matthews brought this portrait to my attention.
AND SILHOUETTES 87
UNKNOWN ARTISTS
Queen Anne of England, 1665-1714.
Moulded white wax, facing left.
Mr. and Mrs. Whitridge, Baltimore, Md.
Bishop John Carroll, 1735-1817.
Three by five inches. Brownish in tone, faces left; dressed
in robes, with insignia of office around his neck. He was the first
Roman Catholic Bishop of Maryland, and was made Archbishop
in 1815.
Maryland Historical Society.
Princess Charlotte, Daughter of George IV, 1796-1817.
Moulded pink wax, facing right.
Mr. and Mrs. Whitridge, Baltimore, Md.
Captain Charles Edward Coffin, of'Nantucket, 1814-1883.
Wax profile made in Bordeaux, France, 1850-1855.
Mrs. John Morrisey, Jr., Baltimore.
Charles James Fox, Sr., 1749-1806.
Moulded white wax, facing left.
Mr. and Mrs. Whitridge, Baltimore, Md.
Mrs. Margaret (Caldwell) McHenry, 1761-1833.
Colored wax, faces left; white cap, tied around the head and
under the chin; white kerchief; black silk dress; seated in a red
armchair; eyes and hair dark; complexion florid; four and one-half
inches high.
Mrs. R. Brent Keyser, Baltimore, Md.
Captain Samuel Swett, of Newburyport, married 1799.
Portrait made in Antwerp.
Colored wax; smooth face, with short side whiskers, and dark
hair; black coat, white waistcoat, high white stock. On a warm gray
background.
Mrs. Robert L. Harris, Portsmouth, N. H.
WAX PORTRAITS
Unknown Man, Stuart Period.
Colored wax, faces right; black cloak, white ruff, black hat
turned up at the side with a brooch of seed pearls, and plumes.
Black hair, mustache and beard, black eyes; skin very pink with no
shadings. Mounted on black glass, very low relief; about two inches
high.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts ;
Lent by Mrs. T. O. Richardson.
Unknown Woman, Stuart Period.
Evidently the wife of the man above. Colored wax, faces
front; brown dress with a garniture around the neck of three rows
of seed pearls, and two rows of double pearls as a pendant. The
sleeves are puffed. Within the row of pearls is some beautifully
modelled lace. Brown hair brushed pompadour, and a high fan ruff
behind the head, made of wax lace. A necklace of seed pearls with
a cross-like pendant. Earrings. Flesh pink as above.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts;
Lent by Mrs. T. O. Richardson.
Unknown.
Pink wax, faces left.
Maryland Historical Society.
NOTES
Page 43 — Williams
Mr. Horace W. Sellers writes that this was probably Moses
Williams, the Negro servant of his great-grandfather, C. W. Peale,
who cut with John Hawkins's invention, "the physiognotrace,"
8,880 profiles in one year (1802), using a half sheet of paper folded
to make four profiles at once. The inner parts he called his "block-
heads," and these he kept. He was born about 1775.
Jonathan Allen, 1773-1845.
Colored wax, faces left; black coat, white stock and shirt
front; black short hair, brown eyes.
Jane C. Crawford, Davenport, Iowa.
T. Todd Co., Printers
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