Antique American Folk Silhouette by the Red Book Artist. Lady With A Red Dress

Peggy McClard Antiques

Americana & Folk Art

Here is a great American folk silhouette, attributed to the "Red Book Artist". The anonymous artist is believed to have worked in New York and Massachusetts (where these profiles have been found) and all found silhouettes are circa 1830. All women face to the right and all men face to the left. All hold a red book in the hand furthest from the viewer and the thumb shown of the hand clasping the book is overly long (I've heard it referred to as a "lobster claw hand". The heads are hollow cut and the three-quarter length bodies painted in watercolor and gouache. The hands are opaque white paint with men having one hand in a pocket and women resting a hand on their hips. The hair is painted around the edge of the hollow cut heads with black watercolor. Of the Red Book Artist women that I've seen, this is the only one with a dress that is any color other than black. This young woman's red dress has a draped bodice, huge leg-o-mutton sleeves and a tall white collar with penciled detailing for the lace and ribbon. The Red Book Artist gave this lady a very delicately cut eyelash. The period gilt frame measures 5 1/4 x 4 1/4 and is painted ochre on the edges. The upper right corner of the frame has a gap but is very stable. There is some toning to the paper, especially in the bottom corners and there is a slight ripple to the paper in the upper right and lower corners. This is a fabulous addition to any American folk art or silhouette collection. The red dress adds greatly to the value of this scarcely found artist's work.

(#4959) $5250

Reference:

Anderson, Marna, A Loving Likeness American Folk Portraits of the Nineteenth Century, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (1992) 48-49.

Once I added archival materials between the silhouette and wood backing, I couldn't get nails back into the back (they were not old nails anyway) so I added these turn buttons.

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