Truman-Shaw collected silhouettes , 1806 - 1850
Scope and Contents
Hollow cut silhouettes pasted onto pages of a copybook. The lettering practice workbook is autographed Jane Trumans Book, and some copy poetry is signed by Sarah Shaw, 1806. The album includes silhouettes of members of the Truman and Shaw families of Philadelphia as well as other figures of the day including George Washington. Some are imprinted with the Peale MUSUM stamp. An additional 56 silhouettes mounted on 7 pages of black paper are associated family members, including children of Joseph M. and Sarah Shaw Truman.
Dates
- Creation: 1806 - 1850
Limitations on Accessing the Collection
Restricted - fragile
Biographical / Historical
From internal evidence, the contents indicate that the album was created by Sarah Shaw or a close Truman relation. Sarah Shaw, daughter of George and Mary Shaw, married Joseph M. Truman under the care of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in 1817. Her brother Alexander Shaw (1779-1828) married Elizabeth Phipps in 1801. Silhouettes of the some of the family members are pasted into Jane Truman's copybook which contained poetry copied by Sarah Shaw and others are glued onto black paper with silhouettes representing Shaw, Truman, Paxson, Baker, and Ackley.
Overview
Hollow cut silhouettes pasted onto pages of a copybook. The lettering practice workbook is autographed Jane Trumans Book, and some copy poetry is signed by Sarah Shaw, 1806. The album includes silhouettes of members of the Truman and Shaw families of Philadelphia as well as other figures of the day including George Washington. Some are imprinted with the Peale MUSUM stamp. An additional 56 silhouettes mounted on 7 pages of black paper are associated family members, including children of Joseph M. and Sarah Shaw Truman.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Source unknown. FHL Archivist speculated (2018) that may have been a gift of Friends Historical Society or Young Friends in the 1940s, no accession record.
Processing Information
With unknown accession history, the group orginally was processed in "Medium File Pictures" and subsequently placed in a photobinder, Miscellaneous Individual Pictures (PA 100/M5/S) which is how they were labeled in pencil. Most of the copybook is dismantled and pages stored in mylar sleever, one section intact. Transferred in 2017 to create a component of FHL Collection of Silhouettes.
Subject
- Truman family (Family)
- Shaw family (Family)
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