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Figure 1 Medallion, Josiah Wedgwood, Staffordshire,
England, ca. 1787. Jasperware. D. 1 1/8". (Chipstone Foundation;
photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Design of chained and kneeling slave in profile
taken from the seal of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
Figure 2 Medallion, Josiah Wedgwood, Staffordshire,
England, ca. 1787. Jasperware and silver. D. 1 7/8". (Collection
of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 3 Patch box, England, ca. 1800. Painted enamel on
metal. L. 1 3/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 4 Halfpenny token, 1668. Copper. D. 7/8". (Collection
of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Head of black youth representing
the Black Boy Pub.
Figure 5 Figural group, Staffordshire England, ca.
1760. Creamware. H. 5 3/8". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 6 Cream jug, Staffordshire or Yorkshire, England,
1780–1790. Creamware. H. 4 1/2". (Collection of the author;
photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This jug, part of a larger tea service, has twisted
strap handles with molded sprigs terminals and a black transfer print
of The Tea Party.
Figure 7 Jug, England, ca. 1800. Pearlware. H. 9 1/2".
(Collection of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Armorial crest featuring
blackamoor bust in profile.
Figure 8 Detail of the crest illustrated in figure 7.
Figure 9 Soup plate, France, ca. 1810. Porcelain. D.
9 3/4". (Collection of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Blackamoor
head and legend “Asgre
Lan Diogel ei Pherchen.”
Figure 10 Detail of the soup plate illustrated in fig.
9. The Latin legend translates as “A pure conscience is a safeguard
to its possessor.”
Figure 11 Detail of an engraving, from Thomas Clarkson’s
History of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade, London, 1807.
Influential figures such as Thomas Clarkson were given the responsibility
of
collecting information to support the abolition of the slave trade. This
included interviewing 20,000 sailors and obtaining equipment used on the
slave ships such as iron handcuffs, leg-shackles, thumb screws, instruments
for forcing open slaves’ jaws, and branding irons. In 1787 he published
his pamphlet, A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable
Consequences of Its Abolition. After the abolishment of the British
slave trade in 1807, Clarkson published his book History of the Abolition
of the African Slave Trade.
Figure 12 Child’s mug, England, ca. 1840. Whiteware.
H. 2 1/2". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This
enamel-colored black transfer print depicts the capture of native Africans
by European slavers, along with the opening verse from William Cowper’s
The Negro’s Complaint: “Forcd from home and all its pleasures/Afric’s
coast we left forlorn/To increase a stranger’s treasures/O’er
the raging billows borne.”
Figure 13 Jug, Staffordshire or Sunderland, ca. 1820.
Pearlware. H. 4 1/2". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo Gavin Ashworth.)
This jug with copper and
pink luster trim shows a transfer-printed variation of the Wedgwood plaque
design. This one features a frontal view of a chained and seated slave,
and verses from William Cowper’s The Negro’s Complaint
on the other side. Note the reversal, most likely unintentional, of “I”
and “Not” in the printed motto.
Figure 14 Detail of the reverse of the jug illustrated
in fig. 13. This stanza from The Negro’s Complaint reads (italics
mine): “Slaves of gold, whose sordid dealings/ Tarnish all your boasted
powers,/Prove that you have human feelings/Ere you proudly question
ours!”
Figure 15 Figural group, France or England, ca. 1820.
Porcelain. H. 6 1/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
A late eighteenth-century antislavery pamphlet by William Fox included
a section on punishment in which a Royal Navy admiral attested that the
flogging of slaves was much more severe than that administered to sailors
aboard English men-of-war. More explicitly, an English general asserted
“there is no comparison between regimental flogging, which only cuts
the skin, and the plantation, which cuts out the flesh.”
Figure 16 Reverse view of the figural group illustrated
in fig. 15.
Figure 17 Mug, England, ca. 1850. Porcelain H. 3".
(Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) In elaborate gold script:
“Health to the Sick/ Honour to the Brave/Success attend true Love/
And Freedom to the Slave.”
Figure 18 Sugar bowl, England, 1820–1830. Bone
china. H. 4 5/8". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) The
decoration of the kneeling slave in
the tropical environment is enameled over the glaze suggesting that it
may have been produced for a special anti-slavery fair or occasion.
Figure 19 Reverse of the sugar bowl illustrated in fig.
18. Legend reads: “East India Sugar not made/By Slaves/By Six families
using/East India, instead of/West India Sugar, one/Slave less is required.”
The wording represents a somewhat sanitized version of Fox’s formulation
that “A family that uses 5 lb. of sugar per week...will, by abstaining
from the consumption 21 months, prevent the slavery or murder of one fellow
creature” and tactfully omits the pamphleteer’s more gruesome
analogy “that in every pound of sugar used...we may be considered
as consuming two ounces of human flesh.”
Figure 20 Sugar bowl and cover, England, 1820–1830.
Earthenware. H. 5". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Transfer-printed image of the kneeling slave. This bowl would have been
part of a larger tea service. A number of different ceramic forms were
decorated with this transfer print, including teawares and dinnerwares.
Figure 21 Token, 1807, copper. D. 1 3/8". (Collection
of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 22 Reverse engraving on glass, London, 1807.
(Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) Published to commemorate
the abolishment of the British slave trade, this depiction, rich in iconographic
imagery, shows the figure of Africa casting a disapproving eye toward
America who holds the images of Washington and Franklin.
Figure 23 Jug, Liverpool, 1805–1810. Creamware.
H. 8 1/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The
transfer on this jug is captioned:
“Britannia Protecting the Africans.”
Figure 24 Figure, Staffordshire, 1790–1810. Pearlware.
H. 7". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This early
kneeling slave, hand enameled in high temperature underglaze colors,
is holding a book inscribed “bless god thank briton me no slave.”
While not specifically identified as such, the early date of this ceramic
figure must coincide with the British abolishment of the slave trade begun
in 1792 and formally decreed in 1807.
Figure 25 Figural group, possibly Staffordshire, early
nineteenth century. Porcelain. H. 6 5/8". (Collection of Rex Stark;
photo, Gavin Ashworth.) In this figural group, a slave exults in freedom
as broken chains and whip lie on the ground. An open Bible rests at Britannia’s
feet.
Figure 26 Detail of the inscription on the book held
by the kneeling figure illustrated in fig. 24.
Figure 27 Plate, England, ca. 1840. Whiteware. D. 8".
(Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Molded daisy pattern
rim with black transfer print advocating “Brotherhood and Free Trade
with all the World.”
Figure 28 Plate, France or England, ca. 1830. Porcelain.
D. 9". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Inscribed
“Unfettered Intercourse between all Nations—The Best Security
for Abundance and Peace.”
Figure 29 Soup plate, Staffordshire, ca. 1840. Whiteware.
D. 10 1/2". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 30 Jugs, Staffordshire, ca. 1840. Whiteware.
H. of tallest. 6 1/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 31 Jug, Staffordshire, ca. 1840. Whiteware. H.
4 1/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 32 Child’s plate, England, ca. 1820. Pearlware.
D. 5". (Collection of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This blue
transfer print extolling the virtues of “my bible” is derived
from a color sheet published by William Darton, Jr. in 1812.
Figure 33 Vase, France, ca. 1820. Porcelain. H. 4 3/4".
(Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 34 Detail of the inscription on the vase illustrated
in fig. 33.
Figure 35 Sauceboat, France, ca. 1820. Porcelain. L. 5
1/2". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Black transfer
print of a kneeling female slave in chains.
Figure 36 Dish, France, ca. 1820. Porcelain. L. 10".
(Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 37 Cup and saucer, England, ca. 1830. Drabware.
D. 5 1/8". (Collection of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Black
transfer print of kneeling female slave in chains (cup).
Figure 38 Detail of the cup illustrated in fig. 37.
Figure 39 Detail of the saucer illustrated in fig. 37.
Figure 40 Plate, England, ca. 1830. Drabware. D. 6 1/2".
(Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This small plate, part
of a larger tea service, bears the caption from the engraving which faces
the title page in Mary Dudley’s pamphlet, Scripture Evidence of
the Sinfulness of Injustice and Oppression: “This Book tell Man
not to be cruel; Oh that Massa would read this Book.”
Figure 41 Token, United States, 1838. Copper. D. 1 1/8".
(Collection of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Kneeling and chained
female slave with legend: “am i not a woman & a sister.”
Figure 42 Candlestick, England, ca. 1830. Earthenware.
H. 6 1/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This
unusual form has the transfer print of a kneeling female slave and the
Bible verse: “Remember them that are in Bonds.”
Figure 43 Detail of the gilt inscription on the base
of the candlestick illustrated in fig. 42.
Figure 44 Set of figures from “Uncle Tom’s
Cabin,” England, ca. 1855. Unglazed porcelain. H. of tallest:
3 1/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 45 Plate, probably Staffordshire, ca. 1855. Whiteware.
D. 6 1/6". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The
printed scene shows “The Death of Uncle Tom.”
Figure 46 Plate, J. Vicellard, Bordeaux, France, ca.
1855. D. 8". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) A
French version of the death of Uncle Tom.
Figure 47 Pitchers, Ridgway & Abingdon, Staffordshire,
1855. Colored stoneware and parian. H. of tallest: 8". (Collection
of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The molded images are taken from
two scenes in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with the side shown depicting
a slave auction. The three-dimensional handle shaped as a kneeling slave
represents nearly seventy years use of that poignant image since the introduction
of Wedgwood’s medallion in 1787.
Figure 48 Reverse of the jug illustrated in fig. 47.
Figure 49 Child’s plate, England, ca. 1850. Whiteware.
D. 5 3/8". (Collection of the author; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Enamel-colored
black transfer print “jump jim crow,” with molded rim.
Figure 50 Figure, Staffordshire, ca. 1860. Whiteware.
H. 11". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The molded,
hand-enameled figure of militant abolitionist John Brown contrasts sharply
with the diminutive, adoring children.
Figure 51 Bust, Copeland, Staffordshire, 1864. Parian.
H. 9 3/4". (Collection of Rex Stark; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This
powerful sculptural expression of a chained slave with collar is among
the most artistically-proficient and dramatic images of slavery. A confined
full-body slave is represented in a recess on the base. The base is marked
“Published May 1, 1864 Copeland.”
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