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Martha Ann Honeywell

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Martha Ann Honeywell
Born1786 (1786)[1]
Died1856 (aged 69–70)[1]
Known forSilhouettes and embroidery
Paper cutout featuring the Lord's Prayer, c. 1830, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Silhouette of Theodore Laveille, c. 1830, in the collection of the Missouri History Museum

Martha Ann (sometimes Anne) Honeywell (1786–1856) was an American disabled artist who produced silhouettes and embroidery using only her mouth and her toes, often in public performances.[2]

Early life

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A native either of Lempster, New Hampshire,[3] or of Westchester, New York,[1] Honeywell was born without hands or forearms, and had only three toes on one foot.[3][4] One of her advertisements claimed she stood only three feet tall.[5]

Career

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1831 flyer advertising sittings for silhouette cuttings by Martha Ann Honeywell.

Honeywell was known for her silhouettes, paper cutouts, needlework, and penmanship. She became a public performer around the United States, displaying her talents. During one such display, recorded by diarist William Bentley, she threaded a needle and embroidered with her toes and mouth; balanced scissors with her mouth and arm stump to make paper cutouts; and wrote a letter with her toes. Besides silhouettes, another of her specialties was a cutout with a handwritten version of the Lord's Prayer at its center.[6]

Many of her public appearances are documented in newspaper advertisements. According to these she would perform three times a day, each show lasting two hours and costing fifty cents a ticket. One broadside indicates silhouettes would be cut in a few seconds for twenty-five cents, half-price for children. Honeywell appeared in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1806 and 1809; Charleston, South Carolina in 1808 and 1834–5; in New York City in 1829,[7] and in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1839. She was in Boston in 1806.[3] In 1832 she is recorded as having appeared in Richmond, Virginia.[8] A broadside also indicates that she traveled to Europe, where her work was well received.[9] On many occasions, Honeywell appeared in the company of another, similar disabled artist, Sally Rogers.[10]

Collections

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A paper cutout by Honeywell featuring the Lord's Prayer, dating to around 1830, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[11] The New-York Historical Society also has a Lord's Prayer cutout by Honeywell.[6] An undated silhouette of a lady is owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[12] The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum owns another cutout with the Lord's Prayer[13] as well as a broadside advertising her work.[14] Two of her silhouettes are owned by Historic Deerfield.[10] A silhouette of E. Tupper is held by the American Antiquarian Society.[15] The historical society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania owns an example of her work as well.[16] A group of silhouettes by Honeywell were featured in a 2001 exhibit called "Ordinary Folks, Extraordinary Art" at the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Morristown, New Jersey.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Disability History Association Podcast Interview with Laurel Daen December 2018" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  2. ^ "New-York Historical Society". www.nyhistory.org. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Gerard C. Wertkin (August 2, 2004). Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-95614-1.
  4. ^ "With NIH grant, American studies professor spotlights often-overlooked experiences of disabled people in early U.S. history". Alumni & Friends. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Silhouette Artists Born Without Arms ©". Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Meet Martha Ann Honeywell, the Silhouette Artist Who Captivated 19th-Century America". Behind The Scenes. January 14, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "Peale's Museum (advertisement)". The Evening Post. August 13, 1828. p. 3. Retrieved August 23, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Raleigh Lewis Wright (1983). Artists in Virginia before 1900: an annotated checklist. University Press of Virginia. ISBN 978-0-8139-0998-1.
  9. ^ Daen, Laurel (May 24, 2017). "Martha Ann Honeywell: Art, Performance, and Disability in the Early Republic". Journal of the Early Republic. 37 (2): 225–250. doi:10.1353/jer.2017.0019. S2CID 148600862. Retrieved March 24, 2019 – via Project MUSE.
  10. ^ a b "Collections Database". museums.fivecolleges.edu. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  11. ^ "Cut-paper Card with The Lord's Prayer, ca. 1830 Martha Anne Honeywell". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  12. ^ "Lady". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  13. ^ "Colonial Williamsburg Online Collections". emuseum.history.org. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  14. ^ "Colonial Williamsburg Online Collections". emuseum.history.org. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  15. ^ "E. Tupper · Silhouettes: An Illustrated Inventory of the American Antiquarian Society". Americanantiquarian.org. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  16. ^ "M. A. Honeywell | Found in Collection". July 2, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  17. ^ Filler, Marion (November 2, 2001). "Exhibit Celebrates the Art of Ordinary Folk". Daily Record. p. 77. Retrieved August 23, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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