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submissive party, a non-threatening object whose purpose is to arouse pity in the hearts of potential converts to the abolitionists' cause. Indeed, Wedgwood, when suggesting that a woodcut of the same slave be used to introduce a
Society pamphlet, described him as a "pathetic figure" which would "increase its effect somewhat."
106:
was presented to a committee of the
Society. According to Mary Guyatt, and "it is fair to suggest that would have had some influence over the eventual design" given his personal involvement in the project. Webber's design depicted a Black male slave in a kneeling posture accompanied by the motto
183:
Wedgwood's anti-slavery cameos were eventually used to adorn a variety of items including snuff boxes, shoe buckles, bracelets, and hair pins which were commercially available in
Britain and the United States. These items were purchased by hundreds of movement supporters—many of them middle-class
135:
Not only is the slave depicted in a weak posture, supplicating on bended knees and emasculated by his chains, but it is implicit that his appeal is addressed to white society as well as to Heaven. And since supplication demands that a hierarchy of power is established, the slave is clearly the
333:
241:"—a slogan that has often been traced to the Wedgwood medallion. As Cecelia M. Hartsell writes, "Am I Not a Man and A Brother" was no longer a question, as it had been in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—it was a declaration."
130:
Contemporary interpretations of the medallion emphasize that while the design recognizes the commonality of enslaved people, it simultaneously consigns them to a place of weakness and deference to white society. Mary Guyatt writes,
101:
resolved to develop a recognizable seal for their cause and charged founder Joseph Hooper with the commission. Hooper solicited the help of prominent
British potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood. On October 16, 1787 a design by
200:
In the 1828 a modified version of the medallion appeared featuring a kneeling woman slave and the phrase "Am I not a woman and a sister." This version was intended to specifically bring attention to the plight of enslaved women.
313:
357:
149:. The quantity of medallions produced and number of variants of the symbol manufactured is not known. According to Mary Guyatt, "basing our figures on the level of demand indicated by the 15,050 copies of
264:
291:
168:
in the United States. Historians generally accept that
Wedgwood himself financed the cost of production and distribution; cameos of a similar size were commercially sold for three
127:. Accompanied by an English plea, the depicted man communicates that he is a Westernized figure who shares both a language and faith with a white British or American audience.
89:. The medallion helped to further the abolitionist cause and is today accepted as "the most recognizable piece of antislavery paraphernalia the movement ever produced."
55:
59:. The medallion depicts a kneeling Black man in chains with his hands raised to the heavens; it is inscribed with the phrase "Am I not a man and a brother?"
160:
The medallions were likely distributed through the network of the
Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Wedgwood sent parcels of cameos to
157:, distributed to supporters in the Society's first fifteen months, it can be presumed that demand for the medallion was of a comparable scale."
727:
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17:
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567:
Popular
Politics and British Anti-slavery: The Mobilisatition of Public Opinion Against the Slave Trade, 1787-1807
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A copper coin produced by the
American Anti-Slavery Society with a variation of the design featuring a woman
812:
81:— and widely distributed in Britain and the United States. These cameos were worn as pendants, inlaid in
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35:
145:
By the end of 1787, Wedgwood began work to produce the design in cameo form at his pottery factory in
533:
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230:
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107:"Am I not a man and a brother?" The motif was adapted from a print design into sculpture, likely by
647:"Bleeding Humanity and Gendered Embodiments: From Antislavery Sugar Boycotts to Ethical Consumers"
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324:
219:
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The enslaved man's kneeling position and raised hands are often understood as a reference to
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8:
85:, and used to adorn bracelets and hair pins, rapidly becoming fashionable symbols of the
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women—who contributed to the increasing fashionability of the abolition movement.
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cup featuring the medallion, likely produced by a Dutch anti-slavery organization
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746:. Students of the Graduate Program in Art History at Rutgers University. 2000.
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759:""I AM A MAN": A Civil Rights-Era Declaration with Roots in the 1700s"
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433:"The Wedgwood Slave Medallion: Values in Eighteenth-Century Design"
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49:
symbol produced and distributed by
British potter and entrepreneur
207:
Slavery
Illustrated in Its Effects upon Woman and Domestic Society
209:
features the female variation of the symbol on its frontispiece.
124:
483:"Hercules Subdued: The Visual Rhetoric of the Kneeling Slave"
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with Wedgwood's involvement. The medallion was produced as a
34:
A Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion in the collection of the
621:
Women Against Slavery: The British Campaigns, 1780-1870
270:
A French version of the medallion produced in 1789 in
99:
Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade
794:
534:"V&A · The Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion"
229:African American men participating in the 1968
62:The figure was likely designed and modelled by
56:Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade
726:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
218:featured the kneeling slave figure in its
123:, marking him as a Christian appealing to
382:Representation of slavery in European art
304:painting of the kneeling slave figure at
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285:A stoneware version produced by Wedgwood
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212:The American abolitionist newspaper
180:3, equivalent to ÂŁ506 in 2023).
599:National Museum of American History
481:Hamilton, Cynthia S. (2013-12-01).
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803:Abolitionism in the United Kingdom
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823:Race-related controversies in art
808:Abolitionism in the United States
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570:. Psychology Press. p. 156.
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155:A Summary View of the Slave Trade
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27:18th century abolitionist symbol
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43:Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion
757:Hartsell, C. M. (2006-10-01).
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258:A 1788 engraving of the symbol
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1:
618:Midgley, Clare (2004-08-02).
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499:10.1080/0144039X.2012.746580
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18:Am I Not A Man And A Brother
7:
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10:
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692:Patton, Sharon F. (1998).
564:Oldfield, John R. (1998).
538:Victoria and Albert Museum
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87:British abolition movement
77:by Wedgwood's factory—the
53:in 1787 as a seal for the
36:Metropolitan Museum of Art
624:. Routledge. p. 96.
437:Journal of Design History
343:showing posters reading "
341:Memphis sanitation strike
233:carried posters reading "
231:Memphis sanitation strike
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321:Our Countrymen in Chains
763:OAH Magazine of History
595:"Antislavery Medallion"
487:Slavery & Abolition
325:John Greenleaf Whittier
775:10.1093/maghis/20.5.46
743:The Rutgers Art Review
698:. Oxford. p. 95.
645:Sheller, Mimi (2011).
197:
147:Etruria, Staffordshire
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663:10.1353/hum.2011.0011
431:Guyatt, Mary (2000).
387:Emancipation Memorial
319:An 1835 broadside of
222:, likely designed by
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97:On July 5, 1787, the
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695:African-American art
327:featuring the symbol
813:Black people in art
449:10.1093/jdh/13.2.93
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39:
705:978-0-19-284213-8
631:978-1-134-79881-0
577:978-0-7146-4462-2
339:A diorama of the
306:Wilberforce House
166:Benjamin Franklin
16:(Redirected from
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602:. Retrieved
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104:Henry Webber
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64:Henry Webber
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47:abolitionist
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397:I Am a Man!
368: 1860
302: 1800
83:snuff boxes
797:Categories
604:2022-04-05
543:2022-04-04
403:References
153:pamphlet,
151:Clarkson's
72:jasperware
783:0882-228X
722:cite book
679:145283251
671:2151-4372
515:143983709
507:0144-039X
457:0952-4649
220:nameplate
188:Influence
714:39053531
651:Humanity
376:See also
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245:Gallery
170:guineas
45:was an
818:Medals
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272:Sèvres
172:each (
125:Heaven
93:Origin
675:S2CID
511:S2CID
461:JSTOR
349:A MAN
239:A MAN
205:1837
75:cameo
779:ISSN
728:link
710:OCLC
700:ISBN
667:ISSN
626:ISBN
572:ISBN
503:ISSN
453:ISSN
66:and
41:The
771:doi
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445:doi
323:by
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