À propos du lot
n° 79
Titre : The Wedgwood Slave Medallion (1787)
Notes : From 1787 until his death in 1795, Josiah Wedgwood was a keen correspondent of Thomas Clarkson and an active participant in the movement to abolish the slave trade. The slave medallion featured the emblem of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery and the phrase 'Am I not a man and a brother?', adopted as the motto of the Committee to Abolish the Slave Trade in 1787. Wedgwood intended these fashionable medallions to adorn hat pins and brooches in order to increase public awareness of the suffering of slaves. In 1788 Wedgwood sent some of these medallions to Benjamin Franklin, President of the Abolition Society in America, hoping they would 'acquaint [Franklin with a subject that] is daily more and more taking the possession of men's minds on this side of the Atlantic as well as with you'. On receipt of the gift, Franklin wrote, 'I am distributing your valuable present of cameos among my friends in whose countenances I have seen such marks of being affected by contemplating the figure of the Suppliant (which is admirably executed) that I am persuaded it may have an effect equal to that of the best written pamphlet in procuring honour to those oppressed people'. Christie's, Salle de vente
🔓Accès libre sans carte bancaire.
Titre de la vente : Exploration and Travel
Date de la vente : 26/09/2007
🔓Accès libre sans carte bancaire.
Référence de l'enchère
: Live Sale
