Moses Williams
Revealed Silhouette of a Young Woman

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Revealed Silhouette of a Young Woman
Dateafter 1803
PlacePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumWove paper
DimensionsImage: 2 7/8 × 1 1/2 in. (7.4 × 3.8 cm)
Sheet: 4 1/4 × 3 1/4 in. (10.8 × 8.3 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.74.17
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
DescriptionCut-paper profiles, or silhouettes, show a person’s face from a side view. These particular profiles were made at Charles Wilson Peale’s Museum in Philadelphia by Moses Williams, a man of European and African ancestry, who was enslaved until Peale legally freed him in 1802. That year, Williams began cutting profiles for visitors at the museum, like this one of a young woman. He used a machine known as the physiognotrace, which traced the outline of the sitter’s head directly onto a sheet of white paper. It took great skill to cut the elegant lines of these intimate works of art, and he became well known for his special talent.

ProvenanceMiss Ima Hogg, Houston; given to MFAH, 1974.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Embossed at the base of reveal: MUSEUM

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Revealed Silhouette of George Washington
Moses Williams
after 1803
Cut wove paper and black textile
B.2021.9
Revealed Silhouettes of a Man
Elhana W. Gilbert
1839
Wove paper with black ink
B.79.172
Silhouette Drawing of a Young Woman
c. 1830–1835
Black ink with chalk delineation on wove wood pulp paper
B.77.19
Silhouette of a Lady
c. 1830–1840
Black ink with brown and white chalk delineation on wove paper
B.69.239
Hollow-cut Silhouette of a Man
c. 1800–1805
Wove paper with black ink
B.74.18
Provided
Forrest Moses
1987
Monotype, printed chine collé on wove paper and pink wove paper
2018.106
recto of sheet
Mark Williams
2010
Oil and paper on Dura-Lar
2011.577
recto of sheet
Mark Williams
2010
Oil and paper on Dura-Lar
2011.576
Untitled
Forrest Moses
1985
Monotype on wove paper
2007.1164
Backstage
Moses Soyer
1945
Lithograph on wove paper
84.172
Silhouette
c. 1830
Paper, maple frame
B.69.233.1