Auguste Edouart (French, 1789-1861, active New Orleans 1842 and 1844), a group of four Silhouettes of the Children of Benjamin Farrar Young and Martha Jane Wade Young/Catherine Semple Young, including: "Mary Allison Young", signed and dated "17 Jan. 1844" lower left, inscribed "Natchez Mis." lower right; "Robert Temple Young", signed and inscribed "taken at N. Orleans" lower left, titled and dated "Jan. 17, 1844" lower right; "Robert Wade Young", signed, dated "1844" and "Jan. 17, 1844" and inscribed "taken at N. Orleans " lower left, titled, inscribed "New Orleans", and dated " 17 Jan. 1844" lower right; and "William Gosser Young and His Dog Bonnie", signed and inscribed "New Orleans Jan 1844" lower left, titled, inscribed "N.O." and dated "21 Jan 1844 " lower right, each sight 6 in. x 5 1/2 in.; two with "The Collection of American Silhouette Portraits/ Cut by August Edourd [sic]/Exhibited by Arthur S. Vernay/12 East 45th St./New York/ from Oct 27 to Nov 15, 1913" labels en verso, all four in fine original carved maple frames, together with E. Nevill Jackson. The History of Silhouettes, London: The Connoisseur, 1921 Arthur S. Vernay Gallery, New York. Exhibition Catalog-American Silhouettes by August Edouart, 1913 The figure adds materially to the effect that produces a likeness, and combines with the outline of the face to render, as it were, a double likeness in the same subject. From this combination of face and figure arises the pleasing and not less surprising result of a striking resemblance. - Auguste Edouart Note: A decorated soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, Edouart fled France after the French leader was exiled to Elba. Arriving in England in 1815, he set up shop as an artisan creating intricate and delicate weavings of hair to incorporate into memorial or mourning jewelry. He eventually discovered paper cutting and realized it was a more profitable - and less time consuming - art than hair weaving. Edouart soon made a name for himself as a silhouettist, a term he created because he found the then-common English phrase "black-shade man" offensive. In 1839, Edouart arrived in America for a ten year visit. He traveled across the country creating silhouettes of many prominent members of society, politics, and the arts. He spent time in most major cities; his delightful silhouettes of the Young children were produced during his time in Natchez and New Orleans. The father of the children, Benjamin Farrar Young, was a prominent and wealthy plantation owner in Wilkinson County, MS, with strong family and business ties to Louisiana. His portrait is included in the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Louisiana's book Louisiana Portraits. It is believed that Edouart created over a thousand silhouettes, almost all full body images with no embellishments save an occasional line in graphite. It was his custom to create two of every cutting, one for the sitter and another, carefully annotated, to be stored in his reference folios. Upon his return trip to England in 1849, his ship was wrecked off the coast of Guernsey. Though there was no loss of life, all but 14 of his folios were destroyed. Devastated by this loss, Edouart gave the remaining folios to a family friend and returned to France. He never cut another silhouette. A 1913 exhibition of Edouart's American silhouettes held in New York City included the portraits of the Young children. References: E. Nevill Jackson. The History of Silhouettes, The Connoisseur: London, 1921 Arthur S. Vernay Gallery, New York. Exhibition Catalog- American Silhouettes by August Edouart, 1913.