Portrait of a Black Woman

This portrait of a young Black woman shows her wearing a tortoiseshell comb and a dress typical of the period between 1830 and 1835. A fragment from a Philadelphia newspaper within the frame suggests that the work was produced there. At the time, Philadelphia had one of the largest free Black communities in the United States, and the woman is probably a free Black individual who could afford such fashionable attire. This suggests she had financial means, likely through family, marriage, or employment. While work opportunities were limited for Black women, many entrepreneurial free Black women started businesses in fields like dressmaking, hatmaking, hairdressing, and teaching, though most worked in domestic service or as seamstresses and laundresses.