19th-Century Silhouette Profile Portrait Depicting Reverend David S. Bogart and His Wife, Elizabeth Bogart.

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Framed pair of 19th-century cut-paper profile silhouettes, labeled with the handwritten names "Rev. David J. Bryant" and "Miss Elizabeth Bryant". … Read more Framed pair of 19th-century cut-paper profile silhouettes, labeled with the handwritten names "Rev. David J. Bryant" and "Miss Elizabeth Bryant". Traditional hand-cut paper profile silhouettes (or shades), popular in the 18th and 19th centuries as an accessible form of portable portraiture before the widespread use of photography. Set in a simple dark rectangular frame behind glass on a light-toned backing. Handwritten cursive text is visible underneath each profile identifying the subjects. Rev. David Schuyler Bogart (1770–1839) was a prominent early American clergyman and graduate of Columbia College who served congregations on Long Island and in New York. Elizabeth Bogart (1795–after 1866), likely depicted alongside her father, was a noted 19th-century American poet who contributed to publications like the New-York Min
Pror under the pen name "Estelle". Silhouettes were a popular, fast, and affordable form of portraiture in early 19th-century America before the invention of photography, often cut from black paper or hollow-cut from white paper. See less