Name Moses Williams | Role Artist | |
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Moses Williams (1777-c.1825) was an African-American visual artist and former slave, who was particularly well known as a maker of silhouettes.
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Early life and education
Moses Williams was born in 1777 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Scarborough and Lucy Peale, who were slaves in the home of renowned artist and Museum-owner Charles Willson Peale. It is believed that William's parents began to work for Peale sometime between 1769 and 1775. In 1786, Peale emancipated Williams' parents and William's father Scarborough changed his name to John Williams, passing along his new last name to his son. Although Williams' parents were freed, the law mandated that eleven-year-old Moses remain in Peale's service until his twenty-seventh birthday and so Williams grew up in the Peale household among Peale's many artistic children, including Rembrandt Peale, Raphaelle Peale, Franklin Peale and Titian Ramsay Peale.
Career
Growing up in the household of artist Charles Willson Peale, Williams was instructed in skills that would help him to work at Peale's Museum, including taxidermy, object display, and silhouette-making. As a slave, he was not taught the "higher art" of painting. After showing skill at silhouette-making, Williams was given a physionotrace machine to make silhouettes and he continued to work at Peale's Museum as a freed man and a professional silhouettist, making black and white paper silhouettes for visitors of the Museum. Williams also created silhouettes of the Peale family, including Charles Willson Peale and his wife Elizabeth. Williams made over 8,000 silhouettes during his first year working at Peale's Museum. He earned between 6 and 8 cents for every silhouette that he cut. With the money that Williams earned making silhouettes, Williams was able to buy his own home and to marry.
Public institutions
Williams' silhouettes can be found in a number of institutions, including: