A physiognotrace is an instrument, designed to trace a person's

physiognomy Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the genera ...

to make semi-automated portrait

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio (printmaking), intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. ...

s. Invented in France in 1783–1784, it was popular for some decades. The sitter climbed into a wooden frame (1.75m high x 0.65m wide), sat and turned to the side to pose. A

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

connected to a pencil produced within a few minutes a "grand trait", a contour line on a piece of paper. With the help of a second scaling-down pantograph, the basic features of the portrait were transferred from the sheet in the form of dotted lines to a copper plate, which had previously been prepared with a ground for etching. One week later, the sitter received an etched plate and twelve little prints. The device but also the aquatint prints are called physionotraces.

History

In 1783–1784, the Frenchman

Gilles-Louis Chrétien Gilles-Louis Chrétien (5 February 1754 – 4 March 1811) was a French cellist and engraver. Chrétien was born at Versailles. In 1787 he invented a machine called a "physionotrace", with which he took portraits in profile from life. He worked ...

invented the "physionotrace" to aid in the production of

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

portraits, which became popular during the reign of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. Within a few minutes, a "grand trait" was produced. The life-size drawing was completed by an artist. Chrétien's device used the mechanics of the pantograph to transmit the tracing (via an eyepiece) of the subject's profile silhouette to an

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

needle. Thus, it enabled the production of multiple portrait copies. Chrétien's first partner, Edme Quenedey, made a drawing of the instrument in 1788 that is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. When Quenedey started his own business in Germany, Chrétien cooperated with the artist Jean-Baptiste Fouquet, and Jean Simon Fournier. Chrétien's workshop was taken over by Edme Bouchardy. In 1802,

John Isaac Hawkins John Isaac Hawkins (1772–1855) was an inventor who practised civil engineering. He was known as the co-inventor of the ever-pointed pencil, an early mechanical pencil, and of the upright piano. Early life Hawkins was born 14 March 1772 at Taun ...

, who was born in England in 1772 and lived in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, patented the second official physiognotrace and partnered with

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

to market it to prospective buyers. Hawkins's machine differed from Chrétien's in that it traced around the actual face with a small bar connected to a pantograph that reduced the

to less than two inches. Many versions of those instruments were then used all over the East Coast of the United States, some of which predated Hawkins's, and they were capable of quickly making machine-made profiles.

By 1802, in response to the popularity of silhouettes, which were invented in the late eighteenth century, Peale introduced the British inventor John Hawkins's (1772–1855) physiognotrace at his museum in Philadelphia. While the operator traced the sitter’s head, the mechanism impressed the image onto a piece of paper that was often folded to produce multiple portraits. The operator then cut away the center of the paper, leaving a “hollow cut” image. These
silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
s, or profiles as they were also called, could be kept loose, framed, or compiled in albums; a black or blue piece of paper or fabric placed behind the image provided contrast.

Peale sent the watercolor sketch of the instrument to

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

, along with a detailed explanation. The drawing is now in the Jefferson Papers in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. In April 1805, Peale wrote his friend Dr.

William Thornton William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was a British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the ...

to request a certified copy of a patent of a physiognotrace that was issued to Hawkins. Peale, who had an interest in the instrument and kept the original in his museum, "needed the certified copy to bring suit against a person who was making the device without authority. John J. Hawkins had been in England, where he sold patent rights to the

polygraph (duplicating device) A Polygraph is a duplicating device that produces a copy of a piece of writing simultaneously with the creation of the original, using pens and ink. Patented by John Isaac Hawkins on May 17, 1803, it was most famously used by the third U.S. ...

and drawing machine for 1,600 guineas. Mr. Peale also wrote to Dr. Thornton in May 1805 to record an assignment of the Hawkins invention to Mr. Peale for the City of Philadelphia."

James Sharples James Sharples (1751 or 1752, in Lancashire – 26 February 1811, in New York City) was an English portrait painter and pastelist, who moved to the United States in 1794. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1779. Life James was firs ...

, an itinerant British portrait artist who also lived for a time in Philadelphia, used a physiognotrace to draw profiles of such famous subjects as

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

and Dolly and

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (1770–1852) was a French portrait painter and museum director. He left France during the Revolution, and worked as a portrait engraver in the United States in the early 19th century. He created ...

lived in the United States from 1793 to 1814. He created numerous portraits, often using the physiognotrace technique.

References

External links

Ranger demonstrating the physiognotrace
* ttp://www.askart.com/askart/f/julien_fevret/julien_fevret.aspx Profile of Captain Merriweather Lewisbr>Knipe, Penley. Paper Profiles: American Portrait Silhouettes, includes a drawing of the Physiognotrace.
{dead link, date=March 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Peale's letters to John J. Hawkins
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120225005220/http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Physiognotrace Jefferson Encyclopedia: Physiognotrace Technical drawing tools Silhouettes