Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2014.5 |
Object Name |
Silhouette |
Title |
Silhouette of Unknown Man |
Artist |
unknown |
Description |
Subject has short hair and a pointed nose, and wears a cravat, ruffled shirt and coat. He is facing viewer's left. |
Label |
In 1802, artist Charles Willson Peale purchased a small machine for making silhouettes of his museum visitors. The "physiognotrace" outlined the shadow cast on a sheet of white paper by the sitter's head. The "profilist" cut along the outline and pasted the "hollow-cut" white sheet on a black background. |
Medium |
paper |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of Sam Carrier and Susan Kane |
Search Terms |
portrait Peale Peale Museum |
Collection |
Carrier-Peale Collection |