PUFFY SLEEVE ARTIST
Silhouette of a Lady   

Likely Massachusetts, possibly New Hampshire or Vermont, ca. 1830-1831.

Hollow-cut with woven-cloth backing, watercolor, and ink on paper. The lady with high lace collar and red ribbon, while holding a red-rose bouquet. Profiles by the celebrated Puffy Sleeve Artist are attributed given characteristics including: the distinctive way their bodies are turned toward the front while their heads remain in profile; woman wear the fashionable dress of the period with exaggerated puffy sleeves; iconic tiny hands at their waists (woman’s left hand often grasping a book or other object (rose)); her hair comb (also the fashion for the period) being cut into the hollow work with her hair painted about it.

Based on the article, from the Magazine Antiques, July/August 2014 “UNMISTAKEN IDENTITY”, Michael & Suzanne Paine and Sam Herrup make the case that the Puffy Sleeve Artist was Ezra Wood, Buckland, Massachusetts.

Works by the Puffy Sleeve Artist are among the most sought after silhouette portraits from the early 19th century.

In a period, not first, gilt frame, about 5 inches x 4. Good condition with expected toning and an old, non-image tear upper right. Provenance includes Pam Boynton. From a private Northeast collection.