Slave Trade

1791

John Raphael Smith

Artist, British, 1752 - 1812

George Morland

Artist After, British, 1763 - 1804

John Raphael Smith after George Morland

Attributed to

This drawing shows individuals being forced onto a small boat. A group is gathered to the left, with a dog nearby, and distant figures on horseback move away under a landscape of palm trees and a clouded sky. In the center, two men with light skin restrain a man with dark skin, with one raising a whip or wooden switch. A woman and child with dark skin look on in distress as a man with light skin gestures them off to the side. In the foreground, a smaller boat is positioned with two figures sitting in it. In the background, a large ship is anchored by the coast.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    mezzotint on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Paul Mellon Fund

  • Dimensions

    plate: 48.2 x 66.5 cm (19 x 26 3/16 in.)
    sheet: 48.5 x 66.5 cm (19 1/8 x 26 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2001.118.62

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Chaloner Smith 1884, undescribed


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Christopher Lennox-Boyd; (Nicholas Stogdon, Oxford); purchased 2001 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2021

  • Afro-Atlantic Histories, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, 2021-2024 (shown in Washington, Los Angeles, and Dallas), no repro.

Bibliography

1884

  • Smith, John Chaloner. British mezzotinto portraits, being a descriptive catalogue of these engravings from the introduction of the art to the early part of the present century. 4 vols. London: Henry Sotheran and Co., 1884.

1902

  • Frankau, Julia. John Raphael Smith: His Life and Works. London: MacMillan and Co., 1902.

2021

  • Pedrosa, Adriano, and Toledo, Tomàs, editors.Afro-Atlantic Histories. Exh. cat. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, 2021-2022.

Inscriptions

lower left in plate: Painted by G Morland; lower center in plate: SLAVE TRADE / London Publish'd Feby. 1. 1791. by J. R. Smith. King Street Covent Garden; lower right in plate: Engrav'd by J.R. Smith. Mezzotints Engraver. To his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales; across lower center: lo! the poor Captive with distraction wild / Views his dear Partner torn from his embrace! / A diff'rent Captain buys his Wife and Child / What time can from his Soul such ills erase?

Wikidata ID

Q76346385

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