Americana & Folk Art
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Peggy McClard Antiques Americana & Folk Art |
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I am very pleased to offer this very rarely found and highly sought
silhouette attributed to James Hosley Whitcomb. Whitcomb was a
deaf New Hampshire artist who graduated in one of the first classes of
the American Asylum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Asylum was
founded to educate deaf-mutes and the New Hampshire legislature
appropriated scholarship money that enabled Whitcomb's parents to send
the young boy for education. Whitcomb graduated alongside other
deaf artists such as Augustus Fuller and William Niblo, Jr. Only two known hollow cut silhouettes were signed by Whitcomb, but his work is easily recognizable by the exaggerated apostrophe bust line termination and the great detail that he used in painting the uncut jacket lapel, shirt front and collar. The profile of this gentleman is smartly cut with a slight curve for his eyebrows, a tiny upturned cut eyelash, an upturned nose, and slightly well-formed chin. The uncut but painted lapel is extraordinary in the way that both lapels perfectly echo the other. The bit of color added for the salmon colored vest draws the eye from the wonderful bust termination up into the face. The silhouette has quite a bit of moisture staining as you can see in the photo. He came to me in a later frame. I found this period stamped brass spandrel frame which fit the silhouette perfectly and camouflages the staining a bit and shows off the beautiful silhouette. I have two pairs by Whitcomb in my collection but have never been so lucky as to offer one for sale. Don't miss your opportunity because I don't know when another will come along! If you don't bite quickly, I just might take him off the market and hang him in my gallery. A wonderful American folk silhouette. Circa 1830. (#4824) Sale Pending WAIT, HOLD THE PRESSES! I've recently acquired the duplicate of this silhouette cut by Whitcomb himself by folding the paper in half and cutting two silhouettes at once. The duplicate is not finished with watercolor as the original is. It has some tiny holes in the paper and is in a modern black painted frame. But, these two cannot be separated again so they are now being sold together. What a great thing for an American silhouette collection! Please see the Silhouettist Biographies page for more information about Whitcomb.
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The duplicate!!! |
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peggy@peggymcclard.com with
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Copyright © 2010 Peggy McClard Antiques
