History of Silhouettes in EuropeThe History of Silhouettes

The art of silhouette cutting originated in Europe in the early 1700's.Prior to the French revolution, silhouettists were hired as anamusement for the royal class. The featured artist would attend themany extravagant balls and cut out the distinguished profiles of theLords and Ladies capturing the latest fashions and elaborate wigs.

While the aristocrats were having their silhouettes cut out and eatinglike kings much of Europe was starving, especially in France. In the1760's the Finance Minister of France, Etienne de Silhouette, hadcrippled the French people with his merciless tax polices. Oblivious tohis people's plight, Etienne was much more interested in his hobby ofcutting out paper profiles, the latest fad. Etienne de Silhouette was sodespised by the people of France that in protest the peasant s woreonly black mimicking his black paper cutouts. The saying went all overFrance,"We are dressing a la Silhouette. We are shadows, too poor towear color. We are Silhouettes!" To this very day the black profilecutouts are called silhouettes. Thankfully, the negative connotation nolonger remains.

The art of silhouette cutting reached its "golden age" in the 1800's.Many European silhouettists immigrated and became very famous andrich, catering to the American politicians and very wealthy. Otherstraveled to county fairs and small towns capturing the profiles and thehearts of countless thousands of ordinary folk. Silhouettes remain aspopular today as ever. In fact, they have become one of the mostcollectable art forms. Unfortunately there are only a handful ofsilhouette cutters left, perhaps as few as 15 in the United States. We ofthe computer age may be seeing the last generation of silhouetteartists.

HISTORY OF MALAY SILHOUETTES Shadow playFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaFor hand shadows, seeShadowgraphy (performing art). For other uses, seeShadow Play (disambiguation)."Shadow puppet" redirects here. For other uses, seeShadow puppet (disambiguation).

Chinese shadow theatre figuresShadow playor also known asshadow puppetryis an ancient form ofstorytellingandentertainmentwhich uses flat articulated figures (shadow puppets) to create cut-out figures which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen orscrim. The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. A talentedpuppeteercan make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh.Shadow play is popular in various cultures; currently there are more than 20 countries known to have shadow show troupes. Shadow play is an old tradition and it has a long history in Southeast Asia; especially inIndonesia,Malaysia,ThailandandCambodia. It is also considered as an ancient art in other parts of Asia such as inChina,IndiaandNepal. It is also known in the West fromTurkey,GreecetoFrance. It is a popular form of entertainment for both children and adults in many countries around the world.