Silhouette (Portrait)

Description

Honeywell was born without forearms or hands and had only one foot with three toes. Controlling a pair of scissors with only her mouth and her partial limb, she learned to cut silhouettes and other complex cut-paper designs, as well as embroider on pin-pricked paper. She traveled extensively throughout America, Great Britain, and Europe performing this work for paying audiences, and took great care in controlling her own public image. As can be seen on this work, she consistently signed her silhouettes in brown ink, with slight variations of the phrase, “Cut by M. Honeywell with the Mouth.”