I love these lithograph body folk silhouettes and get them whenever I can. This lady with a handkerchief is a nice one with her dress, her pelerine and tie around her neck all painted with tones of grey and black watercolor over an all-over print. This lady has a very nice dress with demi-gigot sleeves (full and stuffed above the elbow then tight to the wrist). Her the front of her bodice is pleated diagonally with the pleats meeting in a point in the middle of the bodice. This accentuated a small waist which, in this case, is further emphasized by a large belt with buckle. Like almost every one of these litho ladies, her body has been expertly cut out and pasted onto the paper under her hollow cut head & neck. The silhouettist cut wonderful details for her round cap with frills at the front and a bavolet frill at the back which was like a curtain for the back of the neck. The artist also beautifully depicted the adornment on the top of her bonnet and the tie under the neck. This really a marvelous American folk silhouette and probably a bit different than the litho-body ladies you’ve seen in the past. I also must tell you that while all the litho bodies I’ve seen with women are similar dresses but none exactly like another. There is always a different hand placement of a slightly different sleeve or pelerine or brooch. I’ll add some photos of litho bodies from my past to show you the differences. The hands on these litho bodies are always graceful. Unfortunately, the artist pasted this one so that much of her hand is covered by the frame. The frame is stamped brass over wood with a rectangular opening. I always like finding these frames as they are just a bit less common than the ones with oval openings. Framed size is 3 ¾” x 4 ¾”. The silhouette is in very good condition except for a bit of toning which shows more around the edges and in a diagonal line from about 10 o’clock to about 3 o’clock. The toning around the edges and not right around the cutting is because fabric was cut only big enough to cover the opening. The fabric helped to protect the paper that was directly in front of it but the rest of the paper laid directly onto the wood backing (now lost). I have placed acid-free black paper behind the entire silhouette paper and backed it with ragboard. The reverse has a collection tag and the frame has a nice folky wire hanger. Circa 1825. Definitely earlier than 1833. Folk silhouettes were generally done with cheaper paper (poor itinerant artists) that degraded more quickly. This one is really in great condition for a folk silhouette. Grab her while she’s available!

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