Silhouette was a popular piece of fine arts in the 18-19th century. It is a silhouette on a light – usually white – base, cut out of black cardboard or painted with black paint. Most often it is a human profile portrait (vignette) but the theme can be also a genre or animals.
This was the cheaper and faster version of portrait miniatures. The most talented artists made a silhouette by freehand in a few minutes, just looking the model sitting in front of them. The inner part of the silhouette is simply black without details, neither the eyes nor other characteristics were illustrated. Their sizes were between 7 and 13 cm. Making it was a kind of show at fairs and even the poorer could afford paying for one thanks to the cheap material. The artists not necessarily had to have a wealthy patron for their job.
Making silhouettes was a popular pastime among nobles also. The easier way was to hang a tensed paper on a mount between the model and the drawer, while the model was lighted by a candle from behind. The shadow on the paper was drawn around and that was used as a stencil for cutting the final one of black cardboard. The painted version was usually also pre-drawn and filled later with black ink.
The silhouettes were framed and put on the wall. Later variations appeared on glass, gypsum and ivory.
They can be easily fitted into fashionable, minimal color palettes thanks to their black-and-white basic colors. Ask for help of an interior designer placing your collection in a proper way.