The many headed monster.

Great Britain? mid-19th century.

28 silhouettes : cut paper ; album 16 x 13 cm

Collection of 28 silhouette profiles cut from small sheets of white paper and loosely inserted in an album of sheets of stiff black glazed paper, by an unidentified maker. The front cover is stamped in gilt (bespoke): "The Many Headed Monster." The profiles include 12 women and 16 men, none identified. Eight of the examples retain the cut-out piece of paper. The profile subjects are likely the family and friends of a well-to-do household, and perhaps designed as an elaborate entertainment in which players had to guess the identity of the subject. There are also two gilt paper frames, one with a backing sheet, into which the silhouettes could be placed. The silhouettes are relatively uniform in size, about 6 x 4 cm, on sheets 11 x 10 cm.

English

September 08, 2014