Shades of our Ancestors, by Alice Van Leer Carrick (1928)

One of my favorite books, a great read and a wonderful place to learn about American silhouettes and silhouette artists.  Great reference material, lots of good black & white illustrations (plus one beautiful color frontpiece), and the stories will make you fall in love with American silhouettists.  The book is in very good condition with just a very small hard to notice water-stain on the bottom edge of the front cover and a few pages.  Very nice and tight.

(#4162)   $65

British Silhouette Artists and their Work, by Sue McKechnie (1978)

This is the Bible of silhouette research....the seminal work....whatever other superlatives can be attached to a reference book....  Ms. McKechnie devoted her adult life to the study of antique silhouettes.  This comprehensive book is 799 pages of information and tons of images (it weighs a ton, too).  It catalogs every trade label and signature known and recorded at the time of its publication.  It discusses individual artists, the history of silhouettes, frames, jewelry, and has a large chapter detailing costumes of the periods (this is my best source for dating silhouettes and portraits).  Lucky for us, Ms. McKechnie even devoted a chapter to artists working in America!  If you are building a collection of silhouettes, or selling or appraising silhouettes, you've gotta have this book!  I apologize in advance for the price.  This book as gotten extremely hard to find.  I looked for months for a copy that I could offer at what I finally had to decide was a "reasonable" rate.  Believe me, if you are serious about silhouettes, this will be your go-to book.  Please also note that the book weighs more than 8 pounds and will be costly to ship....but it is really, really worth it!  This copy is in excellent condition.

(#4016)     $375

Silhouettes A History and Dictionary of Artists, by Mrs. E. Nevill Jackson (1989)

A necessary staple if you want a reasonably priced reference for silhouette artists.  Mrs. Jackson was the collector who started the trend of collecting antique silhouettes.  She spent a good part of her life researching the art of 18th and 19th century silhouette cutting and the artists who produced this great art form for the masses and the aristocracy alike.  You will find yourself running over and over to the "Dictionary of Artists in Silhouette" which encompasses about one-third of this wonderful book.  Lots of good black & white illustrations.  Original softcover.  Published in 1989 as a unabridged republication of the 1938 Silhouette:  Notes and Dictionary.  This copy is in very good condition. 

(#3932 & 3933)   $45

Silhouettes in America, 1790-1840: A Collector's Guide, by Blume J. Rifken (1987)

Another of my favorite reference books, this little book includes a very important chapter on dating silhouette from clothing.  You'll pull it out again and again for that chapter!  It's packed with illustrations of great American silhouettes.  Ms. Rifken seems to lean a bit towards the folky silhouettes (which I love) and she illustrates what I think are some of the most creative silhouettes made.  This is an ex-library copy with the library card inside the front cover, the cataloging tag on the front cover, and stamps from the Peoria  Public Library on the back cover and the front and back of the title page.  The cover have slightly bent top and bottom edges and a few extremely light scuffs.  But the pages of the book are good, clean and unbent.  It's a very good copy of an outstanding reference book.

(#4169)    $65

This is one of my favorite books on folk portraits!  This book represents the exhibit catalog of the 1992 exhibit of Raymond & Susan Egan's folk art collection at The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb.  It includes beautiful photographs of portraits and silhouettes of some of the most important American folk portrait artists of the 19th century.  Brief biographical information is given for known artists within the collection as well as characteristics which help identify of the artist's work.  The book is thin, but it has 60 information-packed pages and all of the many photos are in color.  You will find yourself going back to this book over and over again for reference.  If you collect folk portraits, you need this book! 

I currently have two copies from which you can choose.  The first is a like new copy and includes an 8 page supplement with 28 additional color photos.  I seldom find them with the supplement.

(#4313)     $85

Your second choice is a very good copy with a little scuffing to the covers and a slight crease in the top quarter of the back cover.  Other than the minor cover scuffs, the book is in great condition with no marks to any pages.

(#4316)     $70

The Windsor Style in America 1730-1830, Charles Santore (1981)

I fell in love with American windsor chairs almost 30 years ago, when I was lucky if I could add to my collection at the rate of one good chair per year.  When this wonderful book was first published in 1981, I was quick to buy it and read it front to cover many times.  This is my first copy of this wonderful book.  As I was cleaning out my study, I found that I have this wonderful, now out of print first edition of what would become volume one as well as the later combined edition.  So now, I offer it to you.  It was a ground-breaking scholarly work and really pars down the construction of windsor chairs in general and the regional differences specifically.  If you want to own one windsor chair or a collection, it will really help you learn what to look for in buying quality period chairs.  Fine condition, hardback with original dust jacket.  The dust jacket has some scuffing, but the book is in wonderful condition.

(#3954)   $35

This is a favorite book of mine for reference on collecting Americana of all types.  Nina Fletcher Little and Bertram Little were pioneers in collecting American antiques and America was lucky that Ms. Little was a wonderful research-hound and writer.  She literally "wrote the book" on collecting.  This fabulous book (which is also a fun read) recounts the Little's collecting from the time they caught the bug in the 1920s until their collection was one of the best in the country in the 1980s.  She recounts collecting and learning about clocks, ceramics, furniture, textiles, nautical paintings and ship figureheads, decoys and other folk carving, fireboards and overmantle paintings, and one of the best, most extensive collections of folk portraits ever assembled in a private collection.  Really, the list is just a sampling--they collected and researched almost every aspect of American Decorative Arts.  This is a beautiful soft cover book of 292 pages packed with information, fun stories, and incredible color and black & white photographs.  This is a very fine copy of the book with slightly bent corners but super clean and tight.  It is a very good reference you will run to again and again.

(#4166)     $35