Moses Williams
Revealed Silhouette of a Young Woman

Revealed Silhouette of a Young Woman

Public Domain

Revealed Silhouette of a Young Woman
ArtistAmerican, 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
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

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