Etienne de Silhouette became the Finance minister of France in the mid 18th century.

His policies were so unpopular that he was replaced within a year. He retired.

He used the same tightfisted tactics in decorating his home.

He used a cheap black cut outs for the decorations instead of the conventional paintings.

He started making extra income by making portraits with the same technique.

As luck would have it, this caught on well with people.

Soon the black profile portrait became a craze that spread to England.

The name of the tightfisted Silhouette became part of English vocabulary!