115 years after they were created, one can view these silhouettes differently than the artist’s intent.
After all, the genesis of this work was an editorial illustration for Life Magazine to showcase elaborate women’s hats.
They were done for a commercial assignment with a deadline, and picky editors were overseeing the final work.
Today, they have a dual meaning.
These charming silhouettes are abstractions as much as they are representations.
Moreover, each one is a compact little gem stuffed with observational detail.
Golden Age female illustrator Jesse Gillespie's mastery of technical skill, is apparent in minute details and composition.
Young women, old women, pendants, necklaces, feathers, and laced vails all contribute to the works understated complexity.
The identity of the subjects are revealed by small areas of exposed neck and chin.
As
the viewers eyes goes from left to right - all six silhouettes read as
fashion hieroglyphs in a sentence with a visual rhythm and cadence.
Initialed JG lower right., Matted but not framed.
Published: Life Magazine, March 17th, 1910.
Provenance: Honey and Wax Bookstore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jessie Gillespie Willing
(March 28, 1888 – August 1, 1972) was an American illustrator during the
Golden Age of illustration. She was considered the foremost silhouette
illustrator of her time, although she did traditional illustration as
well. Willing illustrated for books and magazines including Life, The
Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, Mother and Child,
McClure's Magazine, Childhood Education, the Sunday Magazine,
Association Men (the magazine of the YMCA), Farm and Fireside, Every
Week, Children: The Magazine for Parents (which became Parents
Magazine), and the American Magazine. She is perhaps most well known for
her work for the Girl Scouts

Willing was a member of the Plastic Club of Philadelphia,[13] the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the National Arts Club of New York.[14] She was an honorary life member of the National Arts Club and served on its Board of Governors from 1941-1970. In 1963, she received the Gold Medal of the National Arts Club in recognition of 32 years of selfless devotion.[15] Additionally, she was the national director of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) from 1943 to 1946.[15] Previous to this she served as the Program Chairman of the AIGA and in that position she put together a travelling exhibit on the "history of narrative art from the first recorded picture story to the comic book of the twentieth century."[16][17] br Illustrations in books br With Tongue and Pen--Frederick Bair, et al. (MacMillan, 1940) br Masoud the Bedouin--Alfred Post Carhart (Missionary Education Movement, 1915) br The Path of the Gopatis--Zilpha Carruthers (National Dairy Council, 1926) br The Schoolmaster and His Son: A Narrative of the Thirty Years War--Karl Heinrich Caspari (Lutheran Publication Society, 1917) br On a Rainy Day--Dorothy Canfield Fisher and Sarah Scott Fisher (A.S. Barnes and Co., 1938) br Book of Games for Home, School and Playground--William B. Forbush and Harry R Allen (John C. Winston, 1927) br Making Life Count--Eugene C. Foster (Interchurch Press, 1918) br Precious Books: Why and Where They are Treasured--Jessie Gillespie (A.T. Walraven Book Cover Co., 1933) br The Story of Little Goody Two-Shoes--(Grossett & Dunlap, 1944) br The Wisdom of Professor Happy, by the Professor Himself--Cliff Goldsmith (Child Health Organization of America, 1922) br Cho-Cho and the Health Fairy--Eleanor Glendower Griffith (MacMillan Co., 1922) br Travels of a Rolled Oat--Grace T. Hallock (Quaker Oats Co, 1929) br Grain Through the Ages--Grace T. Hallock (Quaker Oats Co., 1931) br A Flower of Monterey: A Romance of the Californias--Katherine B. Hamill (The Page Company, 1921) br Miss Gay's Adventures in First Aid, Series No. II: Artificial Respiration and the Need for Inhalators--Margaret Daly Hopkins (Hopkins Chart Co. 1936) br Ann of Ava--Ethel Daniels Hubbard (Missionary Education Movement, 1913) br The Moffats--Ethel Daniels Hubbard (Missionary Education Movement, 1917) br Spending the Day in China, Japan and the Philippines--Sally Lucas Jean and Grace T. Hallock (Harper and Brothers, 1932) br A Lovely Gate Set Wide: A Book of Catholic Verse for Young Readers--Sister Patrice Margaret (The Bruce Publishing Co., 1946) br The Pageant of Protestantism: Celebrating the Quadricentennial of the Reformation--Harriet Earhart Monroe (The Lutheran Publication Society, 1917) br Is this Tomorrow?--A. E. Osmond (Ernest Benn, 1949) br All Around the clock: Tales of Service and Sport--George Frederick Park (The Lutheran Publication Society, 1917) br Grif of Greenbrier Farm--George Frederick Park (The Lutheran Publication Society, 1917) br Everychild's Book Illustrated--Antoinette Rotan Peterson (MacMillan Company, 1922) br Rhymes of Cho Cho's Grandma--Mrs. Frederick Peterson (Children's Health Organization of America, 1920) br Living with the Family--Hazel Huston Price (Little, Brown and Co., 1942) br The Knight in Grey: A Historical Novel--Marie E. Richard (The Lutheran Publication Society, 1913) br The Honey Pot,Or, In the Garden of Lelita--Norval Richardson (L.C. Page & Co., 1912) br The Three Kings, translated from the German by Gustav Nieritz--Rebecca H. Schively (The Lutheran Publication Society) br The Singing Weaver and Other Stories--Julius and Margaret Seebach (The Lutheran Publication Society, 1917) br Other Peoples' Children--Margaret R. Seebach (The Lutheran Publication Society, 1914) br Soldier Silhouettes on our Front--William Le Roy Stidger (Scribner, 1918) br Star Dust from the Dugouts: A Reconstruction Book--William Le Roy Stidger (The Abingdon Press, 1919) br Health--C.E. Turner and Georgie B. Collins (D.C. Heath and Company, 1924) br The What-Shall-I-Do-Girl: Or, the Career of Joy Kent--Isabel Waitt (L.C. Page & Co., 1913) br The Birds' Christmas Carol--Mrs. Kate D. Wiggin (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1941) br The Pleasuring of Susan Smith--Helen Maria Winslow (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1912) br Illustrations appearing in Life magazine: br Adele--, A-Dell, “Adele!, July 9, 1914[18] br All, All are Gone, The Old Familiar Faces, April 7, 1910[19] br And I Sent Her Only a Christmas Card!, December 1, 1910[20] br At Any Matinee, April 15. 1909[21] br At the Afternoon Tea: ’The Ill-bred Line, August 1, 1912[22] br Baseball Term: “Perfect Control But No Speed, October 26, 1911[23] br Blessed Be the Tie That Binds, November 10, 1910[24] br Bride: Quick, John! There’s Another Grain!, March 17, 1910[25] br Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble, June 15, 1911[26] br The Date Palm and the Rubber Plant, July 31, 1919[27] br Desperation, Inspiration, Anticipation, Realization, March 1, 1915[28] br The Difference Between Counter Irritants and Counter Attractions, September 8, 1910[29] br A Directoire Wash Day, March 11, 1909[30] br Dutch Treat, May 28, 1914[31] br Grandmothers, March 11, 1909[32] br Hark the Herald Angels Sing, December 7, 1911[33] br In the Hands of the Receiver, December 7, 1916[34] br January First: God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen. Let Nothing You Dismay, December 29, 1910[35] br A Jug of Wine and Thou, March 31, 1910[36] br The Land(ing) of the Free, December 15, 1910[37] br Metamorphosis, April 29, 1909[38] br Miss’ill Toe The Mark, December 7, 1911[39] br The Modern Pied Piper, March 24, 1910[40] br More Speed, Less Haste, January 6, 1910[41] br Needs Must When Fashion Drives, March 2, 1911[42] br Oh, the Difference Between Kissing a Miss, and Missing a Kiss!, December 25, 1913[43] br Oh, Woman in Your Hours of Ease, October 13, 1910[44] br Palms, March 31, 1910[45] br Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men, December 2, 1909[46] br The Right Kind of ‘Protection, September 7, 1911[47] br Sister! As Others See Us, April 7, 1910[48] br So Thoughtful of You—Just What I Wanted, December 2, 1909[49] br Some are Born Rich, Some Achieve Riches, and Some Have Riches Thrust Upon Them[50] br Styles for 1909: But Where Do We Come In?, December 3, 1908[51] br Syncopation, Desperation, Renunciation, Abnegation, Consummation But ----ation, August 31, 1916[52] br The Theatre Train, March 9, 1911[53] br ’There was no room for them in the inn’.—St. Luke 2:7, December 2, 1915[54] br They Toil Not, Neither Do They Spin, March 3, 1910[55] br To Them That Hath, April 27, 1911[56] br Town and Country, May 6, 1909[57] br Trying Psycho-Physico Suggestion, September 22, 1910[58] br Valentines, February 2, 1911[59] br What Next? January 28. 1909[60] br The Woman Tempted Me and I Did Eat, March 23, 1911[61] br A Women’s Work is Never Done, November 26, 1908[62] br Illustrations in other magazines br "The Kindergarten and the Nursery School Movement"--Julia Wade Abbot (Mother and Child, February 1923)[63] br "Health Habits in the Kindergarten"--Julia Wade Abbot (Mother and Child, December 1921)[64] br "The Blue Store: A Bit of Business Magic"--Richard Bracefield (McClure's, July 1913)[65] br "Lucy and the Fairies"--Margaret Brearley (Childhood Education, September 1927)[66] br "Chicago, the Healthiest City"--Herman N. Bundesen (Chicago's Health, June 29. 1926)[67] br "Prevent Preventable Diseases"--Herman N. Bundesen (Chicago's Health, October 12, 1926).[68] br "Afternoon Tea at Washington"--Adele Steiner Burleson (Sunday Magazine, December 2, 1913)[69] br "The Gym or the 'Jimmies'"--Ellis Parker Butler (Association Men, September 1927)[70] br "The Thing You Want May Be Right at Your Elbow"--J.S. Cates (Farm and Fireside, November 1919)[71] br "Well, What's New in Your Line?"--James H. Collins (Every Week, March 2, 1918)[72] br "Does Your Farming Ever Take You Back to School?"--James H. Collins (Farm and Fireside, March br "The Child at the Christmas Play"--Jessie Collin (Ladies' Home Journal, December 1914)[74] br "Prohibition--And Your Farm"--William Harpter Dean (Fire and Fireside, July 1919)[75] br "The Comedy of Clothes"--Jessie Gillespie (Sunday Magazine, January 3, 1915)[76] br Cover Art--Jessie Gillespie (The Smart Set, March 1913)[77] br Cover Art--Jessie Gillespie (Sunday Magazine, February 4, 1912)[78] br Cover Art--Jessie Gillespie (Sunday Magazine, April 7, 1912)[79] br Cover Art--Jessie Gillespie (Association Men, December 1922)[80] br "Frontispiece"--Jessie Gillespie (Mother and Child, February 1923)[81] br "Panta=loons"--Jessie Gillespie (Sunday Magazine, October 25, 1914)[82] br "The Comic in Dress"--Grace Margaret Gould (Woman's Home Companion, March 1915)[83] br "The Deceitful Mirror"--Grace Margaret Gould (Woman's Home Companion, September 1913)[84] br "Good Lucks: After Vacation Comes Renovating Time for Faces"--Grace Margaret Gould (Woman's br Vogue Magazine Covers