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The "Why" of
Collecting Portraits & Silhouettes Why do we collect silhouettes and portraits of the
18th and 19th centuries? We have all heard people
whisper about why anyone would want
“dead people” decorating their homes. I’ve even been told that having
likenesses of someone other than family is like “hanging somebody else’s
dirty underwear on the wall.” Some people collect portraits and
silhouettes to achieve the right “look” in their home displaying
antiques of a certain period. But why do we go to museums to look at
old portraits? What is the draw? Why are antique likenesses
important to us now? |
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Portraits and silhouettes tell us so much about our past. By “our
past”, I mean the formation of our country and of our civilization in
general. We not only are able to enjoy something that pleases our eyes,
but we can learn how the people depicted lived by appreciating their likenesses. We see
how people dressed in certain periods. Although we can learn what items
people lived with through written letters, inventories and wills, we can
see how they
lived with those items through their likenesses. It is true that many
limners used fantasy clothing for their 18th century clients to give
them a “timeless” look. Also, many portrait artists and silhouettists
used a formula for painting backgrounds. However, even these formulistic
backgrounds and clothing give us an idea of the goal that 18th and 19th
century clients
were striving for. The aristocrats of the 18th century wanted to look
like "aristocrats" by being painted in “timeless” clothing that
depicted luxurious silks that most people could not afford.
For example, the lady at the left is from an aristocratic family in
Virginia. Her portrait was painted, circa 1725, in a classic
British pose. In 1725, colonists considered themselves British and
followed British styling in clothing, decorating their homes, and having
their portraits painted. |
| The middle class of the 1830s wanted to be depicted in interior
rooms painted in the best “American Fancy” tradition. A fabulous
example of limners who painted by formula to give individual and family
portraits the American Fancy look is J.H. Davis, who painted the
portrait of Joseph R. Moulton in his wedding suit, circa 1835. His
portrait is pictured to the right. |
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The conversation silhouette by William D. Beaumont, to the left, gives
us an idea of how the middle class decorated their homes in the 1840s.
It also shows us how women passed their time. The young seated
woman holds an open book as she reads to her mother and sister.
The mother wears glasses as she sits next to her open sewing box and
works on colored embroidery in her lap. |
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Sometimes we can identify where the likeness was taken by the
furniture depicted in the portrait. For example, the man to the left sits in what is known
as a "Baltimore Chair". The man may not be in Baltimore, but we
have a good clue that he is in the South, near Maryland. Also, the
book in his hand shows us that he wanted to be depicted as an educated
man. The gold key stick pin in his shirt front, the long gold
watch chain attaching a watch that is in his coat pocket and the gold
and coral wax seal hanging from that watch chain all show that he has
some wealth. |
| While we don't know the identity of the sitters in the silhouette to the right, it is interesting to note that in 1830 King Charles X of Bourbon,
one time king of France, his family and court took up exile to Holyrood
Palace. Edouart cut the silhouettes of King Charles and
many of the exiled members of his family and court at Holyrood Palace.
The fact that the standing lady is holding a sketch of the Palace may be
a clue that these ladies are from the Bourbon Court. |
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For the most part and especially in the Colonies, children
in the 17th and 18th centuries were treated like miniature adults.
There wasn't much time for play for anyone except the aristocrats.
Many children didn't live to adulthood and parents did not coddle them
for fear that growing too close to the child would make it even harder
in the event that the child died at a young age. Even aristocratic
children, like the French young boy to the left, were depicted in
somber, stiff poses as adults would have been depicted. Notice the
boy has his left hand partially inserted into his shirt front.
This is a very adult male pose that was often used in the 18th century.
This young boy does hold a toy whip, but it is a miniature version of
the type of prop that an adult man would be depicted holding.
The young 18th century girl before is dressed much like a woman from
1760 would be.
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| By the early decades of the 19th century, adult attitudes had
changed and children were cherished and allowed to be what they
were--children. Families became closer. Toys were given to
children and they were allowed to play. The baby at the right
holds a popular coral bells rattle, make of coral (to ward away evil)
and silver. |
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Note the playfulness of the White Family depicted by
Edouart, to the left. Every child has a toy, a book or a pet.
Starting on the left, the baby holds a coral bells, the toddler
(probably a boy) holds a raised whip, the girl holds a basket of flowers
and a doll, the tallest boy has a bow and arrow, the next boy has pet
bird perched on his finger, and the oldest girl reads from a book to her
father. |
| Likenesses teach us about the fashions of our ancestors. While
Abigail Adams' letters poetically described the 18th century frizzled
wigs that women wore, it is hard to imagine what they looked like
without the visual aid of a portrait likeness. Our current beliefs
that American colonists were all very Puritanical is belied by viewing
portraits showing extremely very low necklines
with lace tuckers covering the bust. Sometimes, as in this
portrait, the bust was covered by a white or lace tucker that fit into
the neckline, but sometimes it wasn't. |
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Since elementary school, we have known that men of the 18th century
wore powdered wigs, but it is through antique likenesses that we can
actually visualize those wigs. We also have a chance to see high collars with low lapels on coats,
double-breasted weskits, and tied stocks on 18th century men.
Written descriptions just aren't the same as seeing a likeness. |
| We can read Jane Austen's wonderful descriptions of women's clothing
and hairstyles at the turn from the 18th to the 19th centuries.
But, we can look to portraits and silhouettes to actually understand the
impact of the feathered hats, the curls, the low cut dresses with
Grecian influences in women's clothes.
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The best way we can appreciate the loose hair knots at the back of the
head with loose curls (often added hair), the ruffed necks and the
empire waistlines of the 1810s & 1820s is through likenesses.
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How could we envision the see the impossibly tall Apollo knots held with large
tortoise shell combs of the late 1820s and into the 1830s without period
likenesses. If you read a description of an Apollo knot, can you
really imagine how absurdly high they really were? And then you
would have to imagine the
fur stoles or boas, long drop earrings, multiple strand necklaces, long
watch chains tucked into a sash or belt, wide necklines, tiny waists,
and huge padded sleeves of the 1830s. |
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And sometimes likenesses give us a glimpse into what the artist must
have seen as hilarity in the latest fashions.
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| Likenesses show us how extremely young some boys were when they
apprenticed out. This very young boy to the right is dressed as a
mariner so we must believe that he went to sea at a very early age. |
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Small portrait miniatures were often carried or worn by people who
were apart from their loved ones for work or military service.
These tiny likenesses remind us how achingly hard it is to be away from
our loved ones. The gentleman at the left must have been a naval
officer leaving for a sea voyage when he had this portrait painted for
his loved one. The back depicts the allegorical figure of "Hope"
watching over a ship sailing out to sea. |
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Likenesses open our ancestors most intimate moments for
us to see like the woman below with her dog in her lap and puppies in a
basket in the background
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.....or this woman nursing her baby.
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Likenesses remind us how important family is.
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And what religious symbols mean to some of us.
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| We decorate our homes with portraits and silhouettes because they
are beautiful, or funny, or folky, or give our home the look we are
seeking. We appreciate, love and study these antique likenesses
because they offer a glimpse into the formation of our civilization and
our families. They open a door to see how our fashions, hobbies,
home decorations, and family lives evolved. Whether folk art,
academic, impressionistic, or whatever style we encounter, we can learn
as much from likenesses and we do from written words. |
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Why Collect Likenesses?