Abolition Jug

In the early 19th century, British abolitionists took their fight to domestic objects. Two prominent symbols of the movement to abolish slavery and the slave trade adorn this transfer-printed jug. The seated figure in chains was the emblem of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. “Am not I a man and a brother?” he asks the viewer, as a slave ship bears down on the coast. On the opposite side of the jug are excerpts from a well-known anti-slavery ballad by poet William Cowper. Britain ended the slave trade in 1807, and finally abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1838. To what extent objects like this influenced popular thinking is an open question. Leading abolitionist Thomas Clarkson praised their effect, noting that fashion, “which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen for once in the honorable office of promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom."