Moses Williams (artist)

Moses Williams (c. 1777 – c. 1825) was an African-American visual artist who was particularly well known as a maker of silhouettes.

Moses Williams was born in about 1777 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Scarborough and Lucy Peale, who were enslaved by renowned artist and museum-owner Charles Willson Peale.

[2] Williams made over 8,000 silhouettes during his first year working at Peale's museum.

[4] With the money Williams earned making silhouettes, he bought a house and married.

[1] According to the Author's Note in The Poison Place, a novel about Moses Williams, he was listed in city directories as a profile cutter until 1833.