We’re going to look at the abolitionist jewelry of the anti-slavery movement, a fascinating jewelry category that is as important as it is rare.
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth. It’s a celebration of June 19,1865, the day that the enslaved in the United States finally gained their freedom. It’s the perfect opportunity to learn about the history of anti-slavery jewelry, and how it played a role in the 18th-19th centuries.
Like the Suffragette social justice warriors, most serious abolitionists didn’t spend much time, energy, or money on jewelry that fought for their cause. Abolitionist jewelry is rare because it wasn’t made in large quantities.
We’re going to begin by looking at one very influential type of abolitionist jewelry with examples from museum collections, and then we’re going to look at two examples of abolitionist jewelry that I’ve had the honor of photographing personally. Then, we’ll examine these works through a contemporary lens and identify their problematic aspects.
This article would not have been possible without the help of many knowledgeable sources. They are all acknowledged at the end.
Wedgwood Medallion
Wedgwood’s anti-slavery pendant is perhaps the best-known abolitionist piece of jewelry. The image on the top of this page is a 1787 example, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The one below in an embellished frame comes from The Art Institute of Chicago.
The Wedgwood Anti-Slavery Medallion, designed by Josiah Wedgwood, was created in 1787 for the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. This London-based organization is dedicated to spreading their message through the distribution of anti-slavery pamphlets and other anti-slavery materials.
The Wedgwood medallions were distributed at the Society’s meetings for free to promote awareness. Typically produced in black and white jasperware (a type of pottery), instead of the Wedgwood company’s signature blue and white, the Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion depicts the the figure of an enslaved Black man in chains and a loincloth, kneeling in a subservient posture, with his hands clasped in supplication, beneath the words “Am I not a man and a brother.”
The medallions became very popular among the abolitionists during that time.
The Wedgwood anti-slavery medallions were first produced in England and then sent to American abolitionists. Josiah Wedgwood sent 500 Wedgwood medallions against slavery to Benjamin Franklin in 1788. Franklin was the President of the Philadelphia Society for the Abolition of Slavery.
Wedgwood’s design was widely used in abolitionist pamphlets and other paraphernalia on both sides of the Atlantic. The above is an American take on the motif showing an enslaved woman instead of an enslaved man, with the words “Am I not a woman and a sister.” This example is a copper token created by Gibbs, Gardner and Company for the American Anti-Slavery society in 1838, a full fifty years after Wedgwood’s original medallion.
A fantastic example of how far the influence of Wedgwood’s design truly reached.
An Abolitionist Miniature
Sandy Jacobs Antiques had this exquisite piece of abolitionist jewellery in their collection when I visited them at the Washington Winter Antiques Show 2023. Sandy, who was a wealth of knowledge about miniatures, told me everything I needed to know while I photographed this one.
You can see why Wedgwood is our starting point. This piece also dates to the late 1700’s but is much more high end than the British jasperware medallions. It uses the same motif and the same slogan – the artist was obviously inspired by Wedgwood’s design.
It becomes more impressive as you examine it more closely. A tiny oil painting on an ivory plaque, this miniature’s every hand-painted brushstroke accomplished impossibly miniscule details with great precision. You can see each the kneeling figure’s facial features and hair, the curve of each letter, even the negative space inside the links of the chain.
The figure even appears to be wearing a gold earring, a detail not included in Wedgwood’s original design.
This miniature ivory is covered in gold and enclosed by a lens. This pendant was originally a brooch, but it has been converted into a pendant.
This piece’s origin is unknown. Was it commissioned from an abolitionist that had some spare cash? Was it created by a jeweler who was sympathetic to the cause, as a hobby or for his own collection? Maybe it was given to a celebrity in the hope that they’d wear it and spread awareness.
It is an understatement to say this particular piece abolitionist jewelery is rare. I’ve never seen another one like it and I probably never will.
An Abolitionist Fob
As I said above, the miniature I purchased from Sandy Jacobs Antiques in New York was the first abolitionist piece I ever encountered. The fob I found was the second item I saw. On the same day of the 2023 Washington Winter Antiques Show, at The Spare Room Antiques’ booth.
Both pieces were accidental discoveries. I just happened upon both pieces while browsing their respective cases. I had a relationship with each dealer, so I was able to request a closer examination.
This heavy 18 karat gold fob is set with a carved carnelian seal that bears the words “PURUM PATIENTIA FRANCE,” which translates to “Under a clear sky, France suffers.” Above the words is what appears to be a family crest with a stylized Black male figure’s face above a crown.
This fob’s abolitionist message is more oblique than the Wedgwood medallion or the miniature, but Jen Shapiro and Jackie Smelkinson of The Spare Room Antiques were kind enough to give me a mini history lesson on its significance.
They themselves:
“Notwithstanding the word ‘France’ in the inscription, our wax seal fob is English. The seal is a reminder of the British abolitionists in France who actively tried to force the French to end slavery.
This fob stamp shows the strong movement against slavery that existed in Britain after Napoleon’s reinstatement. It was the anti-slavery movement in England which induced the second abolition of slavery in France through the July Revolution of 1848, which officially abolished slavery in France once and for all.”
I’m particularly fascinated by the figure carved into this fob. Unlike the Wedgwood design, this man isn’t subservient and submissive or begging for help. The man stands tall and proud, his hair tied back with a ribbon bow, and he is crowned.
Are we looking at a free Black man, thriving in France’s theoretical anti-slavery future? I am not sure, but I think it’s possible.
The fob is decorated with a stylized acanthus leaf motif, which is often used on gravestone engravings or mourning jewelry. Acanthus leaves represent the heavenly gardens, but also rebirth and immortality. It feels like a very appropriate adornment for this fob that grieves for France’s enslaved population while calling the country to embrace a better future.
Important considerations
While it would be wonderful to simply say “all abolitionist jewelry is good because abolishing slavery is a good cause,” the fact is that there are many less than ideal elements to these fascinating artworks that we must acknowledge.
We’ll start by returning to the Wedgwood-style medallion. Josiah Wedgwood’s intentions may have been positive, but his imagery is unreservedly problematic.
The depiction of this Black figure prostrating himself before the viewer with his hands upraised in supplication implies that the enslaved man is a weak, pitiable figure humbly imploring the (presumably white) abolitionists of late 1700’s London for their charitable assistance. Everything about it suggests submission and helplessness to an extent that belies the equality suggested by medallion’s slogan.
The Wedgwood medallion may have inspired abolitionist imagery across two continents, but it’s also vitally important to clarify the goals of London’s Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, for whom the medallion was originally created. The Society’s goal was to abolish the slave trade. Only a few people know how to pronounce the word “only”. They did NOT advocate that people currently in slavery be released or that slavery be outlawed.
Josiah Wedgwood, although an abolitionist himself, undoubtedly profited from the slave trade. Wedgwood’s company was extremely successful financially, and a large part of this profit came from aristocratic customers who purchased its products with wealth gained directly or indirectly through the slave trade.
Wedgwood was also known for its ceramic housewares that were used in the home to display food that had been grown, harvested or prepared by people who were enslaved or colonized.
It is also important to ask: Who is the man in the Wedgwood Medallion? Was he modeled on a real person, or is he simply an artist’s amalgam of exaggerated characteristics stereotypically associated with enslaved men?
Was the model paid for his work? He consented to his image being used for this purpose. Was that consent given in a situation that made saying “no” possible? Why isn’t his name part of this story?
The same goes for the female figure on the women’s version of the design and the profile on the French fob. We don’t know any of these answers, but they’re important questions to ask.
Finally: there’s the fact that I am white and so are the antique jewelry dealers who shared these pieces of abolitionist jewelry with me. That’s an important point that deserves its own section.
Privilege & Perspective
Because I am a white woman, it’s not possible for me to know how it feels to experience abolitionist jewelry as a descendant of the enslaved people that these artworks depict or even as a person with the same skin color as the figures on these artworks.
My goal was to give this topic justice by providing thoughtful information and recognizing how my identity influences my perspective. But I must also acknowledge that I am unable to personally experience some of the most important aspects of this category of jewelry.
I invite you to continue the discussion about abolitionist jewellery by sharing with me your opinions, either publicly in the comment section below, privately via email, or through social media. The links to my socials and emails are at the top.
If you’d like to learn more about the history of Black figures in antique art and jewelry, I highly recommend the writings of Tanzy Ward, an antique jewelry dealer who has written two books about this frequently overlooked subject. (I’m currently reading her book Unsung Portraits – Anonymous Images of Black Victorians & Early 20th Century Ancestors.)
Find Tanzy’s website here and her Instagram here.
I also highly recommend Nia Tahani of The Gem Corps’s Instagram series about de-stigmatizing and rehoming antique Blackamoor style jewelry – it’s fascinating and extremely insightful. You may recognize Nia’s name from my recent feature on her Black history and social justice talisman, Sweet Chairiot.
Find The Gem Corps website here and Nia’s Instagram here.
You are welcome to join me on my jewelry adventure, dearest.
I am honored to share these beautiful and meaningful pieces of history with you.
Sources:
“Am I Not a Woman and a Sister: Women and the Anti-Slavery Campaign.” Woman and Her Sphere, 1 Oct. 2012, womanandhersphere.com/2012/10/01/am-i-not-a-woman-and-a-sister-women-and-the-anti-slavery-campaign/.
Anti-Slavery Medallion, The Art Institute of Chicago, www.artic.edu/artworks/66185/anti-slavery-medallion.
“Anti-Slavery Cameo.” Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum, The Walters Art Museum , 1 Aug. 2022, art.thewalters.org/detail/17899/anti-slavery-medallion/.Jacobs, Sandy. Conversations with an antique dealer in January 2023.
Jacobs, Sandy. Rare abolitionist mini, InstagramNovember 7, 2023
“Josiah Wedgwood: Antislavery Medallion: British, Etruria, Staffordshire.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/191076. Accessed 17th June 2024.
National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution “Antislavery Medallion. www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseumofamericanhistory/8360976981.
Oldfield Dr John “History – British History in Depth: British Anti-Slavery.” BBC, BBC, 17 Feb. 2011, www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/antislavery_01.shtml.
Peters, Hayden. “Symbolism, the Acanthus.” Art of Mourning, 10 Jan. 2022, artofmourning.com/symbolism-sunday-the-acanthus/.
Shapiro, Jennifer. Emails with an antique dealer in January 2023.
Stoehrer, Emily. “’Slave-in-Chains’ Medallion.” Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 16 Feb. 2017, www.mfa.org/entry/2017/slave-in-chains-medallion.
The Wedgwood Anti-Slavery Medallion · V&A, Victoria and Albert Museum, www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-wedgwood-anti-slavery-medallion.
“Token with ‘Am I Not a Woman and Sister.’” National Museum of African American History and Culture, nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2018.52.
“Wedgwood Anti Slavery Medal.” Odyssey Traveller, www.odysseytraveller.com/articles/wedgwood-anti-slavery-medallion/.
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