Silhouette

We're still in the 18th century, but this time we're in France, where Étienne de Silhouette was the Controller-General of Finances, or finance minister, of the nation. He was given the unpleasant duty of trying to replenish the nation's funds at a time when France was suffering greatly from the Seven Years' War. De Silhouette took various cost-cutting measures as a result, which didn't exactly win over the public and gave the minister a reputation as a miser.

A la Silhouette originally meant "on the cheap," but it quickly changed to apply specifically to the shadow portraits that were very popular at the time in France. A straightforward profile cut out of black paper and pasted onto a white background was much quicker and less expensive, after all, most individuals didn't have the money to spend on a properly painted or drawn image of themselves.

It's unclear how exactly De Silhouette's name came to be associated with these shadow portraits, but the most widely accepted theory holds that the minister himself was a fan and produced them as a pastime. It made appropriate to give them the name of the most infamous cheapskate in the nation because they were seen as inexpensive alternatives.