Silhouette of an unknown young man in a top hat
1840–45
Medium
Cut paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/2 in. × 3 in. (11.5 × 7.6 cm)
Classification
Cut Paper|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Glenn Tilley Morse Collection, Bequest of Glenn Tilley Morse, 1950
Accession Number
50.602.434
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 19th portraiture with *Silhouette of an Unknown Young Man in a Top Hat* by G. Bonner, created between 1840 and 1845. This delicate cut-paper work, measuring just 4½ × 3 inches, captures the sharp profile of a stylish gentleman sporting the era's iconic top hat—a symbol of urban sophistication and middle-class aspiration. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, entered the collection through the bequest of Glenn Tilley Morse in 1950. Silhouettes like this one flourished in the early to mid-19th century as an affordable alternati...