Moses Williams
Revealed Silhouette of a Young Woman

Public Domain

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ArtistAttributed to Moses Williams (American, 1777–c. 1825)American, 1777–c. 1825

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

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

DRAWINGS, PASTELS & WATERCOLORS

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.

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