Free Woman of Color, Senegal, 1780s
Caption, Signar ou femme de coleur du Sènègal; woman shown in elaborate dress, house in background. Villeneuve writes that women of color and free black women assume the Portuguese title of signare or niara; they live voluntarily with European men in a sort of marriage and view themselves as the legitimate spouses of these men, remaining faithful, and giving the father's name to the children who result from this union. He provides a detailed description of their clothing, adding that gold earrings, necklaces, and bracelets form part of their ensemble (vol. 1, pp. 68-69). Villeneuve lived in the Senegal region for about two years in the mid-to-late 1780s. The engravings in his book, he writes, were made from drawings that were mostly done on the spot during his African residence (vol. 1, pp. v-vi). The same illustration appears in color in the English translation of Villeneuve; see Frederic Shoberl (ed.), Africa; containing a description of the manners and customs, with some historical particulars of the Moors of the Zahara . . . (London, 1821), vol. 2, facing p. 31.
Image Title
Free Woman of Color, Senegal, 1780s
RegID
SI-OB-626
Date
1780-1790
Title
Free Woman of Color, Senegal, 1780s
Source
Renè Claude Geoffroy de Villeneuve, L'Afrique, ou histoire, moeurs, usages et coutumes des africains: le Sènègal (Paris, 1814), vol. 1, facing p. 69. (Copy in Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)
Language
French
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Western Savanna
Reproduced In
Renè Claude Geoffroy de Villeneuve, L'Afrique, ou histoire, moeurs, usages et coutumes des africains: le Sènègal (Paris, 1814), vol. 1, facing p. 69.
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Randall Ericson; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
25-Aug-10
Identifier
VILE-69