Having established himself as a cutter of silhouettes during the 1820s, Augustin Edouart went on tour with his scissors. Each time he arrived in a new place, he found a studio space with a shop window in which to display examples of his work. He also advertised locally to announce his arrival and to invite prospective clients to visit his studio where he held sample volumes of his work featuring silhouettes of well-known figures alongside a range of background options in lithograph and sepia watercolour. Clients could use these books for ideas as to how their own profile could potentially be posed and presented.This finely cut silhouette has originated as a page within one such volume. It shows the silhouette of John Radcliffe wearing academic robes and holding a mortar board. The neatly painted watercolour background shows the “dreaming spires” of Oxford with a punt heading up the River Cherwell. On the reverse side of the sheet (concealed under the backing board) is an additional...