Revealing Histories: Remembering Slavery

This model is one of a group of four, possibly made to mark the freeing of his slaves by Ralph Henry Samuel, a textile merchant from Liverpool who also ran a successful cotton plantation in Rio de Janeiro.  The Samuel family made regular visits to their Brazilian plantation, unlike most plantation owners who left their holdings entirely in the hands of often brutal overseers. Samuel chose to free his enslaved workers in 1834, over 50 years before emancipation in Brazil in 1888. Perhaps the 1833 legislation to free slaves in the British Empire gave him the impetus to emancipate those on his British-owned piece of Latin America.

The figures themselves are individualised and dressed in clothing that reflects their new status. However, this female figure also carries a white baby, illustrating that black women were often the primary carers of their masters' children. Images of African people became increasingly stereotyped during the 1800s, prompted by the development of the 'blackface' minstrel show, and characterised by very black skin, thick lips and often buffoonish expressions. It is unclear how much these models were based on such caricatures.

This information was provided by curators from The Whitworth Art Gallery.