James Cummins Bookseller

[Philadelphia]: [circa 1778].

Each on laid paper, each unmounted. Comprises 2 cut-out [i.e. the removed portion of a hollow-cut silhouette] portraits of Redman (either both traced from the same sitting or one a contemporary copy of another), 1 cut-out portrait of Peggy Chew and one hollow-cut portrait of Peggy Shippen. [With:] Three other hand-cut silhouette portraits of members of the Carey or Cary family. All annotated in pencil in the same early hand as the preceding. Some soiling and foxing, old folds. Provenance: James Stevens Cox, F.S.A. (1910-1997) Item #338815

An extraordinary group of 18th century silhouette portraits of notable Philadelphia women: Margaret "Peggy" Shippen (who would later become Mrs. Benedict Arnold), Margaret "Peggy" Chew and Rebecca "Beckey" Redman. The dating of the silhouettes is ascribed based on the J. Whatman watermarks (Heawood 1846 and 1846a, dating 1777-1781), as well as the subjects.

During the Revolutionary War, British-occupation of Philadelphia between 1777-1778, these three women caught the attentions of Major John André and his officers. Indeed, they were central to André's infamous May 18, 1778 Meschianza, the lavish farewell party to honor General Howe, which featured a ritualistic jousting tournament in which knights contested for the honor of fabulously-costumed women, including Chew and Redman.

The most descriptive contemporary account of the Meschianza was penned by André himself and given to Chew, whom he had championed in the Meschianza joust. More than a soldier and spymaster, best known for being the British agent to recruit and run Benedict Arnold, during the occupation of Philadelphia André wrote poems and plays, drew sketches, and designed costumes and scenery for theater. Intriguingly, André was a well-known amateur silhouette artist, presenting several much acclaimed hollow-cut silhouettes accomplished by his own hand to Redman. His account of the Meschianza and his silhouettes survive in the Chew Family Papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and in the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Of the various types of hand-cut silhouettes practiced in America in this early period (sometimes also referred to as profiles, shades or shadows), the hollow-cut silhouette would prove the most popular, particularly among amateur artists. Most used a shadowgraph – essentially a large wooden frame stand with paper in the center in which the subject sits on one side in profile with a lamp behind them and the artist on the other side tracing their profile, most often used in conjunction with a pantograph to resize the profile on a smaller sheet mounted above. The resulting resized pencil profile would then be cut from the sheet and the "hollow-cut" portion, i.e. the resulting sheet with the cut away portion, would then be mounted onto black cloth or silk (black paper being generally unavailable) and framed. Interestingly, the present grouping includes discarded, i.e cut away, parts from such hollow-cut silhouettes. Included also is one finished but unmounted hollow-cut (Peggy Shippen). Such silhouettes given as mementos and gifts and were surprisingly popular among the Quaker population in Philadelphia over more expensive painted miniatures.

Each of the silhouettes present here includes a pencil attribution in an early hand, with misspellings of the names of the sitters, as follows:
1) Miss Peggy Shipping [i.e. Shippen] / Mrs. Genl. Arnold [15 x 9-3/4 inches, on laid paper, J. Whatman watermark]
2) Peggy Tew [i.e. Chew] / Philadelphia [approx. 11-1/4 x 6 inches, on laid paper, J. Whatman watermark]
3) Becky Redman / Philadelphia [approx. 10-1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, J. Whatman watermark]
4) Becky Redmond / Philadelphia [approx. 10 x 5 inches, armorial watermark with fleur-de-lis and initials G.R.]

Peggy Shippen married Benedict Arnold in 1779 and escaped with him to London in 1781. Following her relationship with André during the occupation, Shippen played a key role in the Arnold conspiracy. It is interesting to note that on the present silhouette she is identified by both her maiden name and as Arnold's wife, perhaps suggesting the cut to have been done prior to her marriage, but the annotation shortly thereafter. The cuts of Redman similarly only note her maiden name, though she married Colonel Elisha Lawrence in 1779, again supporting the dating of the silhouettes and early pencil annotations.

The above are accompanied by the following, each with pencil annotations in the same hand and on laid paper, but varying watermarks from the above:
5) Rosetta Cary [approx. 13 x 8 inches]
6) Kitty Carey [approx. 14-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches]
7) Lucius Cary [approx. 13 x 8-1/2 inches]

Although the present silhouettes are unsigned and unattributed, given the watermarks and subjects, they seem likely to have been accomplished by a British officer in André's circle during the occupation, perhaps sent or brought by the officer back to his family in Great Britain. We have been unable to determine the identities of the accompanying silhouettes of the Carey or Cary family.

References

Anne Verplanck, "The Silhouette and Quaker Identity in Early National Philadelphia," Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring 2009), pp. 41-78

Alice Van Leer Carrick, A History of American Silhouettes (Rutland: Tuttle, 1968)

Penley Knipe, "Shades and Shadow Pictures: American Portrait Silhouettes", The Book and Paper Group Annual, vol. 18 (1999)

David S. Shields, and Fredrika J. Teute, “The Meschianza: Sum of All Fêtes.” Journal of the Early Republic, vol. 35, no. 2, 2015, pp. 185–214

Edward Heawood, Watermarks, mainly of the 17th and 18th centuries (Hilversum, 1950)`.

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