Collections record Beta

Silhouette

2020-12-1

Silhouette portrait of John Forman Seymour (1814-1890). Painted silhouette of a young man, in profile. Head and upper torso, facing left. Golden brown paint with black detailing. Man has mid-length hair with slight curls at front, and is wearing a white shirt with high collar, a dark vest or jacket with high collar, and an outer jacket with wide lapel. Silhouette is painted on a white paper or paperboard ground with a semi-gloss surface. Black lettering below silhouette, "John Forman Seymour/1836." The silhouette is set under an inner glass mat with reverse-painted decoration; grey background with two inner borders of thin blue and white lines and a gilt lyre in each corner. Unpainted center in an elongated octagon shape. Plain outer glass set in wood ogee frame with thin gilt liner. Frame has dark wood (possibly mahogany) veneer on front, with matching dark stain on sides. Hanging loop on reverse at center of top molding.

John Forman Seymour was the grandson of Moses Seymour (1742-1826) of Litchfield. He studied law with his cousin, Origen Storrs Seymour, who had a practice in Litchfield.

1836

Overall length 14", width 12.75", height 1.5". Sight length 7.25", width 6".

• wood
• glass
• paint
• paper