Portrait of a Young Woman

DateProbably 1805-1809

Artist William King (active 1785-1809)

MediumCut cream-colored wove paper with a black-painted laid paper backing

DimensionsPrimary Support: 4 1/8 x 3 3/8in. (10.5 x 8.6cm) and Framed: 6 1/4 x 5 3/8in.

Credit LineGift of Mary B. and William Lehman Guyton

Object number1994.306.39

DescriptionA hollow-cut, bust-length, profile portrait of a young woman facing right. Her hair is gathered in multiple knots at the back of her head, and a long wisp of bangs falls over her forehead.
The 7/8-inch gilded cyma recta frame has a brass hanging ring screwed into the top member and is probably a period replacement. The present (8-29-2007) cover glass is very crudely painted with a black window mat.
Label TextKing was a native of Salem, Massachusetts, where he first worked as a cabinetmaker and ivory turner. In 1796, Salem diarist William Bentley recorded "News from Philadelphia, that Wm. King, belonging to a good family in this Town, after having dragged his family from Town to Town, left a note that he meant to drown himself and disappeared. It is supposed that he means to ramble unencumbered." Later, in 1809, Bentley described King as "a Wanderer. An ingenious mechanic, but full of projects, & what he gains from one, he loses in another."
By about 1804, with or without his family in the picture, the restless King had taken up the art of silhouette-making. In pursuit of the livelihood, he traveled extensively in New England and Nova Scotia and used one or more kinds of mechanical aids, various ads noting his reliance on either a physiognotrace or a "Patent Delineating pencil." (The exact nature of the latter is uncertain). He claimed to be able to cut a profile in six minutes. One ad indicates that he charged "25 cents for two Profiles of one person," thereby illustrating the common practice of creating multiple images (usually 2-4) at a time by folding the paper before cutting.
This sitter has never been identified. Her image bears the embossed stamp "KING," one of two different stamps used by the cutter.
InscribedThe Guyton acc. no. "S136" appears in black ink in the upper left corner of the back of the frame. A modern label on the back of the lower frame members reads, indistinctly, in ballpoint pen, "Wm. King - b. Salem, Mass/ circa 180__(illegible)".
MarkingsA blind stamp below the image reads "KING".
ProvenanceGuyton (see "Source") states he has no record of the prior ownership of this piece, nor the date of his acquisition.