Enslaved Woman

Auguste Edouart

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Despite silhouettes being hailed as the democratization of portraiture vis-à-vis the aristocratic tradition of oil paintings, the art form could not completely undo period inequities of race and the dehumanizing conditions of slavery. Thus, even though the woman depicted here is shown with dignity, we do not know her real name or anything about her personhood beyond her enslaved status. Perhaps because she was assigned to the lady of the house, this individual bears an elegant comportment. This woman’s long hair is done in a somewhat elaborate and fashionable updo, and she wears a petticoat with an overlay collar. Edouart was known to delight in adding accoutrements to his sitters, and this case is no exception. Folded over her arms appears to be fabric, possibly a blanket or article of clothing. On the back of the silhouette is written, "New Orleans 1st March 1844 / Belonging to Mrs. Oyley." This silhouette is a rarity in Edouart’s work. In his records of more than 3,800 named and dated silhouettes cut in the United States, only seven are noted as portraying enslaved individuals.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art