Portrait Gallery Research and Conservation Project Used Getty Grant To Create a Microsite Featuring 1,800 Paper Silhouettes From Political Elite to Everyday People.

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced the launch of William Bache’s Silhouettes Album, a microsite featuring new research and digitized images for 1,800 cut-paper silhouettes by Anglo-American artist William Bache. In addition to presenting portraits of famous figures like Thomas Jefferson and Martha Washington, the digital project restores the identity of previously unknown individuals rarely encountered in Federal-era portraiture—from traveling entertainers to tavern keepers and dance instructors. 

Your ancestors probably are not listed in this collection but how will you know unless you check it out yourself?  Read more about it in the Smithsonian’s web site at: https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/smithsonians-national-portrait-gallery-reveals-identities-hundreds-people-early