Silhouette of an Unidentified Woman
Martha Ann Honeywell, American, 1786 - 1856
1830
Silhouette, Cut black paper mounted on buff paper
Sheet: 4 × 4 1/4 in. (10.2 × 10.8 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Carolyn Kelley Evans, Class of 1978
2019.87.1
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Drawing
Research Area
Drawing
Not on view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, in brown ink, across lower margin: Cut by M, Honeywell with the Mouth –; inscribed, in graphite, on frame reverse, along right edge: 3 ½ 4 ¼
Label
Martha Honeywell traveled the world earning a living through selling paper cuttings and silhouettes. Silhouettes were a popular art form in the 18th and 19th centuries, and many itinerant artists created them. Honeywell’s skillfully cut silhouettes are both accompanied by an inscription in brown ink that reads, "Cut by M, Honeywell with the Mouth."
Born without hands and feet, Honeywell devised a technique to hold cutting implements in her mouth. In newspaper ads about her work, Honeywell frequently advertised both her skill as a fine artist and her unique method. As a child, she had performed everyday tasks in front of crowds to make money for her family. How might Honeywell’s experiences performing as a child have affected how she advertised her artistic work?
From the 2021 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 103, Images of Disability, curated by Maeve McBride '20, Conroy Intern
Course History
Theater 10.34, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 66.25, Disability Arts & Activism, Julia Havard, Spring 2023
Exhibition History
Oak Terrace Museum, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (dates unknown).
A Space for Dialogue, Images of Disability, Maeve McBride, Dartmouth Class of 2020, Conroy Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 9–December 19, 2021.
Provenance
The artist; sold to [subjects]; by descent to Janette L. S. (1874–1967) and Frederick G. (1874–1971) Murray, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; to Winifred Murray Kelley, 1918–2017; to Carolyn Kelley Evans, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; given to present collection, 2019.
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