English: Staffordshire, 1833-4

Moulded lead-glazed earthenware, painted in enamels

The spread of the Industrial Revolution throughout Britain in the early 19th century created a new middle class with money to spend on decorating their homes. Fine porcelain figures from the Meissen factory in Germany were popular, but expensive, and potteries in Staffordshire quickly found a market for their cheaper earthenware figures. In a period when literacy levels were low and news hard to come by outside the main towns and cities, the figures became a form of visual literacy reflecting key personalities and events of the day from politics, royalty, sport, literature and entertainment.

This figure was created to commemorate the 1833 Act of Parliament which ended slavery in the British Empire. Credit for ending British slavery was awarded to a small group of middle- and upper-class Christian humanitarians, led by William Wilberforce, and the active role played by many Africans in resisting slavery went largely unrecognised. Similarly, in contemporary depictions of slavery, slaves were often depicted as passive figures. This figure is typical in showing a black slave kneeling in gratitude, surrounded by his broken chains. His open book reads �BLESS GOD / THANK BRITON / ME NO SLAVE�.

Purchased through the Julie and Robert Breckman Staffordshire Fund