Slave Medalion: When Fashion Promoted The Cause of Humanity
The bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade has been much in the news recently, but what is less known is a connection between one of Britain’s oldest and finest potteries and the 18th century slave trade abolition movement, the Society for the Abolition of Slavery.
Josiah Wedgwood was a fervent abolitionist, and through his creative talents, created a memorable and lasting reminder of the cause he believed in so passionately.
The emblem of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery was a kneeling, chained slave, beseeching mercy from his masters. Around him were the words “Am I not a man and a brother?” This motto was also
adopted by Britain’s Committee To Abolish The Slave Trade, and in 1787 Wedgwood arranged for a Jasper copy of the emblem to be made in the form of a medallion.
The Slave Medallion was widely adopted and worn with fashionable jewellery by the growing number of supporters of abolition. Made from white jasper, the medallion was decorated with a black basalt relief figure of a kneeling slave in chains. We have never seen a Slave Medallion, but two fine examples and more information on Wedgwood’s anti-slave activites can be found on these two sites:
thePotteries.org - Josiah Wedgwood was a keen advocate of the anti-slave movement
Wedgwood Museum - Slave Medalion: When Fashion Promoted The Cause of Humanity