Cut paper portrait bust of a gentleman and lady, both inscribed to lower edge "Cut by M. Honeywell with the Mouth" presented behind glass in matching 19th century frames with custom cut and gilt matting.

Frame dimensions 6 3/4 x 5 3/4 in.

Private Collection, Clarksville, Virginia

Born without forearms and hands, and with only three toes on one foot, Martha Ann Honeywell crafted her silhouettes using her mouth, her toes, and her residual arm.

Scholar Laura Daen explained how Honeywell worked, in a 2018 podcast for the Disability History Association: “Patrons describe that within seconds she would cut their profile out of black paper, paste it onto a white backdrop, sometimes adorn it with gold or silver ink, and then she would add her signature—usually something like… ‘done without hands by Martha Ann Honeywell.'”

Some toning and foxing to sheet; male portrait with small tear to lower border; female with small tear to left border.