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Catalog Data

Attribution:
Raphaelle Peale, 17 Feb 1774 - 4 Mar 1825  Search this
Sitter:
Abigail Smith Adams, 11 Nov 1744 - 28 Oct 1818  Search this
Medium:
Hollow-cut silhouette, white paper on modern black paper
Dimensions:
Image: 9 × 3 cm (3 9/16 × 1 3/16")
Sheet: 10.4 × 8.6 cm (4 1/8 × 3 3/8")
Mount: 17.9 × 14 cm (7 1/16 × 5 1/2")
Type:
Silhouette
Date:
1804
Exhibition Label:
Abigail Smith Adams challenged social and political limitations by advocating for women’s rights, education, and the abolition of slavery. She readily expressed her opinions in letters to her husband, John Adams, by reminding him to “Remember the Ladies” as he helped to establish the new nation’s institutions. Always outspoken, Adams struggled to suppress her opinions when her husband served as president. Adams and her husband retired to Quincy, Massachusetts, at the close of his presidential term in 1800. This hollow-cut silhouette was probably made in October 1804 when the artist Raphaelle Peale stayed with the Adamses while traveling along the eastern seaboard in search of sitters for profile portraits. The inscription and date were added in 1809 by John Quincy Adams when he grouped a number of family members’ silhouettes together in one frame.
Topic:
Silhouette\Hollow-cut  Search this
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Bonnet  Search this
Abigail Smith Adams: Female  Search this
Abigail Smith Adams: Politics and Government\First Lady\First Lady of US  Search this
Abigail Smith Adams: Literature\Writer\Letter writer  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Object number:
NPG.78.282
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm49b960e9a-36e5-4d71-bdfa-d17f6d6fb846
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.78.282