On view
Antislavery medallion,
1789 or after 1848
In 1787, the Wedgwood ceramics manufactory issued a cameo with a kneeling Black man in shackles, his hands clasped. An inscription surrounding him beseeches: “Am I not a man and a brother?” Some medallions of the image were worn as jewelry; this one was set into a tile at an unknown time.
This representation of an enslaved man became one of the most recognized and reproduced images of antislavery campaigns in Europe and the United States. The Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, for example, created a version with French text in 1789, although its production was halted by the government out of fears that it might travel to French colonies and incite a revolt among enslaved populations. Although this emblem promotes emancipation, its widespread circulation also reinforced an association between Blackness and subjugation.
More Context
Special Exhibition
The silhouette seen here became one of the most recognized and reproduced images of the international European anti-slavery campaign in the eighteenth century. Josiah Wedgwood, famed potter, entrepreneur, and an English abolitionist, issued this medallion based on the seal of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Two years later, Sèvres Manufactory created a French version. The design of both depicts an anonymous slave on one knee, clasping his chained hands and begging the question, “Am I not a man and a brother?” Wedgwood produced many medallions, sending some to Benjamin Franklin, a former slave owner who had become a “cautious abolitionist,” for distribution to his network of connections. However, the<em> commissaire royal</em> of Sèvres halted production of the French version, fearing that the medallion might travel to the French colonies, where it could incite a revolution.
Information
1789 or after 1848
