Silhouettes: Collections of a Collection

Public Sale’s upcoming auction Standing Still features an incredible lifetime collection of silhouettes, that iconic style of paper illustration which became popular in the United States in the 19th-Century and democratized portraiture long before the advent of photography.

This collection includes offerings from several named and noteworthy artists like August Edouart, as well as specimens of the many different styles and techniques of silhouettes. Lot 151 has hand-painted embellishments in watercolor wash and finely detailed gold highlights. Lot 152, depicting a couple with dog watching horse-drawn carriage, was created by reverse painting on glass. Lot 154 is a mixture of head and full-body words that highlight body shape, styles of dress, and personal ornamentation. Lot 157 is a family group portrait of head silhouettes made of cut out found paper over dark ground. And Lot 217 is an example of the cut-and-paste method, with a domestic scene that is so elaborately hand-colored that it would almost be called a painting were it not for the solid-color shapes of the figures’ skin.

Many of these silhouettes have been lotted by style or type or other common features, like groupings that are all in oval frames (Lot 150), all reverse-painted (Lot 168), all head silhouettes (Lot 160), all full body (Lot 169), or all depicting more elaborate scenes (Lot 170). These ensembles make great instant collections as well as compelling custom displays, their small size and simplicity in composition offering so much flexibility in becoming a focal point of decor for a variety of settings. Imagine how you might creatively arrange these collections in your space….