“Zip”

Although best known for his individual silhouettes of people, Augustin Edouart (1788-1861) also cut family conversation pieces, often complete with the family dog. Alongside an archive of his work, he also kept scrapbooks in which he pasted practice and experimental cuttings. Unfortunately these scrapbooks and his archive volumes were mostly all lost at sea when Edouart was shipwrecked off the coast of Guernsey in 1829. Some years ago a salvaged scrapbook came to light in a Parisian bookshop and this is the source of this unique cutting. The silhouette carries a stamp of authenticity on the backing card.

Edouart often wrote the name of the sitter on the reverse of the silhouette and charmingly he has also done this here. This shaggy-haired dog is Zip by name and zippy by nature as he bounces through the air!

The silhouette is presented in a period reeded frame with corner rosettes and old glass with imperfections.