"Aged 25"

Date1831

MediumWatercolor, ink, and pencil on cut wove paper with inked cut wove paper backing

Dimensions4" x 3" (10.2 cm x 7.6 cm) unframed; 4 3/4" x 4" framed.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1932.300.4

DescriptionCombination hollow cut profile head and watercolor body profile portrait of a woman fadcing right; her dress is blue with a yellow collar and belt. She has orange-brown scarecrow-type hands and she holds out a folded card in her left hand which bears an inscription of "AGED/ 25/ 1831" in black ink. Some details of her head (hair) are painted in black; most of the black filling the void created by the hollow cut profile is painted on an irregular shaped piece of paper (no watermark) tacked behind the primary paper support.
Label TextMany other hollow-cut and painted silhouettes by this artist that employ the same age and year inscription device have been located. Hollow cut silhouettes were less expensive than painted likenesses. The combination of both techniques made this artist's work quite popular among New Englanders.
MarkingsIn ink on a folded card in the sitter's hand is "AGED/25/1831." No watermark found.
ProvenanceFound in Hanover, N.H.; Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; Given to C. W. by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.