| Martha Ann Honeywell | |
| Birth Date: | [1] |
| Known For: | Silhouettes and embroidery |
Martha Ann (sometimes Anne) Honeywell (1786–1856) was an American disabled artist who produced silhouettes and embroidery using only her mouth and her toes, often in public performances.[2]
A native either of Lempster, New Hampshire,[3] or of Westchester, New York,[1] Honeywell was born without hands or forearms, and had only three toes on one foot.[3] [4] One of her advertisements claimed she stood only three feet tall.[5]
Honeywell was known for her silhouettes, paper cutouts, needlework, and penmanship. She became a public performer around the United States, displaying her talents. During one such display, recorded by diarist William Bentley, she threaded a needle and embroidered with her toes and mouth; balanced scissors with her mouth and arm stump to make paper cutouts; and wrote a letter with her toes. Besides silhouettes, another of her specialties was a cutout with a handwritten version of the Lord's Prayer at its center.[6]
Many of her public appearances are documented in newspaper advertisements. According to these she would perform three times a day, each show lasting two hours and costing fifty cents a ticket. One broadside indicates silhouettes would be cut in a few seconds for twenty-five cents, half-price for children. Honeywell appeared in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1806 and 1809; Charleston, South Carolina in 1808 and 1834–5; in New York City in 1829,[7] and in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1839. She was in Boston in 1806. In 1832 she is recorded as having appeared in Richmond, Virginia.[8] A broadside also indicates that she traveled to Europe, where her work was well received.[9] On many occasions, Honeywell appeared in the company of another, similar disabled artist, Sally Rogers.[10]
A paper cutout by Honeywell featuring the Lord's Prayer, dating to around 1830, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[11] The New-York Historical Society also has a Lord's Prayer cutout by Honeywell. An undated silhouette of a lady is owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[12] The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum owns another cutout with the Lord's Prayer[13] as well as a broadside advertising her work.[14] Two of her silhouettes are owned by Historic Deerfield.[10] A silhouette of E. Tupper is held by the American Antiquarian Society.[15] The historical society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania owns an example of her work as well.[16] A group of silhouettes by Honeywell were featured in a 2001 exhibit called "Ordinary Folks, Extraordinary Art" at the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Morristown, New Jersey.[17]