Artifact of Empire - 1830s
Artifact: Oil Painting. Creator: Alexander Rippingille. Made
in Bristol, Britain. 1834. Found on ArtStor.org
From: Image of the Black in Western Art: Harvard University
What is it?
My artifact is an oil painting that
was made to commemorate and comment on the emancipation of slaves in the
colonies of the British Empire. The Act for the Abolition of Slavery was given
Royal Assent on August 1st 1833. The painting, made circa 1834,
shows a black slave family burying their
shackles and holding up their arms in a gesture of gratitude. It is a one of a
kind, unique painting made from oils on a canvas. The painting, entitled: To the Friends of Negro Emancipation, is
an homage, and congratulatory work, for those who were part of the fight to
push through the Act of Emancipation in 1833, and all the years in its prelude.
The title might refer to those white Europeans who fought for the slaves, but
the image itself is a congratulations to the blacks who were able, from then
on, to cast off their shackles and never submit to white oppression again.
Rippingille must have felt some sympathy for the slaves, otherwise, would he
have painted such an image?
Context
Apart from India,
whose laws fell under the ruling of the East India Company, the British
colonies were to release all slaves and indentured servants from holding. This image
of celebration captures a historic and politically charged event. The white
slaver and slave owner lost a considerable amount of stock, in terms of
produce, work force, investment and of course, money. The white man, in the
colonies, would probably not have been happy at the emancipation of his slaves.
Abolitionism was more of a domestic triumph of human rights and morals.
The industrial
revolution, that began in Britain around 1750, provided an exponential increase
in wealth, productivity, power and influence for the country. The British
Empire had already existed for over a hundred years, the East India Company
having established roots in India in the mid-1600s, but colonization of most of
the Empire happened in the 1700s and 1800s. To further their goals of
domination and wealth, the British established a slave trade to rival that of the
Arabs (who dominated the east coast of Africa). Such slaves were captured on
the West African coast, stowed on slave ships and delivered to colonies in the
West Indies and the 13 American Colonies in exchange for financial and exotic
produce including Tabaco and sugar cane.
In 1807, the Slave
Trade was abolished. Slaves were no longer being taken from Africa by British
ships. By 1823, the first Anti-Slavery Association was formed for the sole
purpose of releasing all colony and motherland slaves from bondage.
In 1833, the
emancipation bill was passed. In 1834, all slaves were totally freed from
ownership, white or otherwise.
How does it relate to what we’ve read in class?
The book was
published in 1847, a full 14 years after emancipation, but no direct mention of
slavery occurs in Jane Eyre.. However, the character of Bertha Mason does give
some insight into how people of color were portrayed in that time. Bertha is
described as being a big woman, having a purple face, bloated features, thick
and shaggy hair, swelled lips and wild stares. Almost as if to describe an
animal (pg. 381). A creole is a derogatory term for a white-black hybrid,
typically from a male plantation or slave owner and a female slave. Known as
the outcast race, a creole is white enough to be accepted into British society
but black enough to be treated with contempt as soon as they return home. “If
they are sent to England to be educated, they are treated as gentlemen, and
admitted into the best society; but when they return to the West Indies, they
also return to their former position of compulsory debasement.” (Line 28-31 A
View of West Indian society article) Bertha, whose mother was a creole, is at
most ¾ white and a second generation creole. Yet, if she is described in such a
way by a character like Jane Eyre, who is shown to be kind, learned and
accepting, the colored person must have still been seen as animalistic and less
than human (something which is clearly seen in the Herge comics of Tintin, even
in the 1930s (100 years after emancipation)).
The black person, or
former slave, remains in a down cast light even after s/he is freed.
