HOLLOW-CUT SILHOUETTE PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN

Distinguished by its hollow-cut head and jacket, watercolor embellishments and S-curved lower edge, this portrait bears the hallmarks of silhouettist James Hosley Whitcomb (1806-1849). Born in Hancock, New Hampshire, Whitcomb became deaf after contracting scarlet fever as a young boy and from 1822 to 1827 attended the American Asylum in Hartford, Connecticut. His surviving works include a self-portrait in the New Hampshire Historical Society (acc. no. 1990.059) and a rendition of Andrew Jackson on horseback at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. 60.886). For more on Whitcomb, see “Silhouettist Bios,” McClard Segotta Antiques, www.mcclardsegotta.com and Vincent DiCicco, “Silhouette Portraiture in America,” Folk Art, vol. 26, no. 3 (Fall 2001), pp. 43-44).