TEACHING PLANTATION DISCIPLINE AFTER EMANCIPATION

These lithographs were copied from a set of ten aquatints designed by William Clark, an overseer on an Antiguan plantation. Clark's set, titled Ten Views of the Island of Antigua, was published in 1823, a decade before slavery ended in the British West Indies. The lithographs were published for a women's society dedicated to charity work in the colonies sometime between 1833 and 1837—around Emancipation. Accompanied by a large-print narrative describing each image, they were designed for use in front of the classroom as teaching aids for blacks—likely black children, given the child-centered focus of the Ladies' Society. Through this re-use of images, the West Indian interest attempted to maintain the structure of the master-slave labor regime on the sugar plantations after the end of slavery.

The Grid and the Fort
"Planting the sugar-cane," hand-colored lithograph. In untitled folio published by the Ladies' Society for Promoting the Early Education of Negro Children. London, [ca. 1833-37].

The laborious task of digging holes and placing sugarcane cuttings in a grid-like pattern is pictured here in some detail. This labor was overseen by black slave drivers, shown in hats with high crowns. Also overseeing the field is the fort (Monk's Hill) dominating the hilltop. The boldly marked grid and the crenellated fort operate in tandem to emphasize the ideas of surveillance and order that were so central to a plantation economy.

Endless Harvest
"Cutting the sugar-cane," hand-colored lithograph. In untitled folio published by the Ladies' Society for Promoting the Early Education of Negro Children. London, [ca. 1833-37].

This print emphasizes the size of fully-grown cane and the size of the labor force needed to harvest it.  The towering plants twist and turn, almost as if they were alive, and the line of laborers seems as endless as the cane field.  The hierarchy of the cane field is encapsulated by the conversing figures in the foreground: the white planter or overseer looks down from his horse to speak with the black overseer in the red coat, who has removed his hat in deference.

The Static Mill and the Well-Dressed Worker
"A Mill yard," hand-colored lithograph. In untitled folio published by the Ladies' Society for Promoting the Early Education of Negro Children. London, [ca. 1833-37].

People and animals are busily working here, but it is the powerful windmill that drives the scene. It is unclear how this can be the case, since no wind ruffles the palms that press into the scene, and the vanes of the mill seem still. Throughout the series black figures are well dressed (no rags or bare torsos). As if to call attention to the care for clothing, the artist shows two coats hung up next to the rollers—their owners involved in the dirty and dangerous work of feeding in the cane.

White Judgment, Black Labor
"Interior of a boiling house," hand-colored lithograph. In untitled folio published by the Ladies' Society for Promoting the Early Education of Negro Children. London, [ca. 1833-37].

Acts of judgment were key to the appreciation of art and to making good sugar, and both were associated primarily with white men. On the right white men assess the quality of brown muscovado sugar, while black male laborers on the left work over the boiling coppers. Boiling cane was the province of black men, not black women, and was seen to require more skill than field work. In this well-ordered scene, even the smoke never strays: it goes straight up and out of the building, appearing as well disciplined as the laborers.

Picturing Sugar for Children
“Manuring,” hand-colored wood engraving.  In Cuffy the Negro’s doggrel description of the progress of sugar.  London, [1823].

The two most extensive pictorial accounts of sugar making in this exhibition are in publications designed for children. The Clark aquatints that the JCB’s lithographs are based on have been widely reproduced in histories of slavery, the West Indies, and sugar making. The Cuffy wood engravings, by contrast, are virtually unknown. The work of manuring, shown here, has rarely been pictured in books detailing sugar cultivation.

Exhibition may be seen in Reading Room from SEPTEMBER 2013 through december 2013.

K. Dian Kriz (Professor Emerita of History of Art and Architecture, Brown University), guest curator, with assistance from Susan Danforth (Curator of Maps and Prints); Elena Daniele (JCB Stuart Fellow 2012-13), curatorial assistant.