PROLOGUE

American hand-cut paper silhouette of an identified woman from Prince George County, Maryland.

This portrait was artistically cut from life out of old white paper. To produce the black silhouette, the cut paper was backed with a piece of folded black cloth with scraps of old paper affixed on which is written in period ink, the names:

"MARGARET DOVE" / "DIONYSIUS SHERIFF."



The silhouette is mounted behind an original gold foil covered paper mat attached to the original cover glass.

It is housed in an 1830s style leather-covered wooden miniature case. The dark brown case has a golden rose and flower bouquet embossed on the front. Inside the top portion of the case is a purple silk style padded mat.

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From information on the Internet:

Margaret Ann Dove (1825–1856) was the daughter of Marmaduke and Margaret Dove. She married Dionysius Thaddeus Sheriff on 30 September 1845 at St. John's Episcopal Parish Zion Chapel, Beltsville, Prince George's County, Maryland.

Dionysius Thaddeus Sheriff (1825–1863), was an Attorney who served on the Levy Court, the House of Delegates (Whig party), and as Chief Judge of the Orphan's Court.

They were the parents of:
Levi Marmaduke Sheriff, born 1846, died 1847
Child Sheriff, died 2 March 1848
Margaret M. Sheriff, born 1848
William Sheriff, born 1852

After her marriage to Dionysius in 1845 and after the loss of several children, Margaret died at the age of about 31, and her funeral was held at Zion Parish on 28 July, 1856.

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In her late teens, Margaret Dove had her portrait cut by an artist

(perhaps as a love token / keepsake for Dionysius before their wedding in 1845)

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By the mid 1840s, the silhouette as an art form was facing increased competition from growing popularity of the first practical process of photography (the DAGUERREOTYPE, invented in 1839).

The Maryland artist who cut and encased Margaret Dove's silhouette may have been among the many skilled miniature painters and silhouette artists forced to learn the daguerreian process in order to maintain their living.

Though beautiful in its own right,
the silhouette art form was severely limited
in the information it could seize from the flow of time

Margaret Dove was born into a world that is now almost unimaginable


A WORLD WITHOUT A PHOTOGRAPH

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NOW ONLY A TOKEN OUTLINE OF THIS LOVELY YOUNG WOMAN'S SHADOW REMAINS

TO PREVENT HER LIKENESS FROM PASSING INTO OBLIVION