Stamped on the back "Gallery of Cuttings Cut by MASTER HANKES With Scissors," c. 1830. Profile of a gentleman, in period/original frame. 4" high, 2.75" wide (sight), 5.5" high, 4.5" wide (overall). Provenance: From the Lifetime Collection of a Northeast Ohio Dealer. Born in Pittsford, New York, Hanks? interest in art (and music) began early. He served as a drummer boy in the War of 1812 before beginning his professional life as a sign painter in Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). He married and began a stint as an itinerant painter, working in Ohio, (West) Virginia, and traveled further afield to Charleston, South Caroline, and he spent time in Connecticut and New York. While in New York, Hanks worked at the gallery of William Hubard (1807-1862), who was known as Master Hubard, and was a well-known silhouette artist. This is probably where Hanks learned to cut silhouettes, and also likely where he began working under the moniker Master Hankes. By the mid-1830s, Hanks returned west, settling in Cleveland, painting portraits, signs, and designing flags. Some toning.
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