The embroidered cravat was worn by Isaac Stevens( 1787-1849) of Phillipsville Township (whose paternal grandfather Abel Stevens Sr. was the first settler of neighbouring Bastard Township). A wonderfully well-preserved example of Regency era men’s fashion, the rich coloured collar would likely have been worn over another white stand-up collar. The cravat complements a profile portrait of the wearer, which is a charming and intimate example of a hollow-cut silhouette, where the negative image is cut from light colored paper, then mounted on black paper. Someone, perhaps the artist or Stevens himself, added hair in pencil. In North America, silhouettes were popular from the last 18th to the early 19th century, when photography rapidly became the preferred method of making portrait keepsakes. Stella and Robert Green were lifelong friends of the Stevenses. Phillipsville, Delta and Bastard are all now part of Rideau Township, in Leeds and Grenville United Counties, north of Gananoque.