Brenna Whalen Final Wiki Paper Profiles, American Portrait Silhouettes by Penley Knipe

Brenna Whalen
Review of  PAPER PROFILES: AMERICAN PORTRAIT SILHOUETTES by PENLEY KNIPE

    
    In this article, Penley Knipe gives an overview of the art of silhouette crafting; she goes into detail about the techniques and materials used, and the history behind the folk-art
 
    The earliest written account of a silhouette artist was in the early 19th century. The history of silhouette making is varied; silhouettes were made both freehand and with tracing tools, made by both established artists and families just crafting at home. Silhouette making was a “popular art pursued by all manner of people.” (Knipe) They were influenced much by antique Greek and Egyptian art, both of which favored the use of profile in their portraiture. The article also goes into detail about where and how the craft got its name. The term “silhouette” supposedly is derived from a French financial advisor to King Louis XV: Etienne de Silhouette; at the same time, there are many other theories as to how the term silhouette came about. This craft has many other names such as: “black profile, “shade”, “shadow portrait”, etc.  Silhouettes were fairly easy to attain and simple enough to make, thus strengthening their  popularity in both the United States and the UK. They were an economic alternative to otherwise expensive portrait painting. Contemporary silhouette artists exist today: Kara Walker uses silhouette to narrate stories of race and slavery, using the traditional methods, but putting a modern spin on them.

    Reading this article from a conservator’s perspective, it is lacking information on what needs to be done to preserve these works of art. Some inferences can be made as to how to approach conserving these pieces, since Knipe includes some scientific information about the coatings on silhouette papers. Both the National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston conducted a material analysis of some silhouette papers. The paper used was off-white with a black coating on one side. The most common pigments used were a mixture of bone black and Prussian blue inks; analysis also concluded that both wax and protein binders were used, as well as gypsum as a filler. I have attached a table of the results of the MFAB study. Materials Graph

    Knipe mentions some conservation problems that silhouette portraiture faces, mostly due to not being stored properly over the years. Many are teared, missing pieces, and missing backs. Coated papers are especially “vulnerable to mechanical damage and abrasion”. Knipe suggests that the conservation of these pieces is entirely up to the conservator; replacing the broken pieces with modern materials, or leaving them as is what is up for debate.

    This article gives a wonderful and informative history of this folk-art, but at the same time it is lacking in conservational information. Some questions remain unanswered: How do items become damaged? and What steps can be taken to conserve and maintain these objects properly? To answer these, I had to do external research (see works cited.) The approach that comes to mind first is to place these objects into a dark, environmentally controlled space, keeping the temperature and relative humidity relatively consistent. The black coating on the paper should be protected by glass or buffered tissue to prevent further scratching.

Works Cited:

Bachmann, Konstanze. "Storage of Works on Paper." Conservation Concerns: a Guide for     Collectors and Curators. New York: Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design,     Smithsonian Institution, 1992. 29-33. Print.

Knipe, Penley. "Paper Profiles: American Portrait Sillhouettes." Journal of the
     Ameican Institute for Conservation 1st ser. 41.3 (2002): 203-23. JAIC Online. 2010.     Web. Sept. 2010. <http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic/articles/jaic41-03-001.html>.

"Preserving Works on Paper (Preservation, Library of Congress)." Library of
    Congress Home. Library of Congress, 29 Jan. 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.
    <http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/paper.html>.