Gate & Slave Market at Pernambuco
An alternate title in list of plates is "View of Count Maurice's Gate at Pernambuco, with the slave market." This street scene shows enslaved Africans waiting to be sold, surrounded by Europeans. The engraving is derived from a painting made by the English artist Augustus Earle (1793-1838) who lived in Rio de Janeiro in 1820-1824. The 1824 Royal Academy annual exhibition catalogue identifies this painting as: "Gate of Pernambuco, in Brazil, with new negroes. The police ordering the slaves to be housed, on account of an attack made on one of the out-posts by the patriots, in 1821. Painted in Brazil. Augustus Earle, Esq. H[onorary]. During his stay in Brazil, Earle executed a number of works focusing on slavery." Maria Graham (née Dundas; 1785–1842), also known as Maria Lady Callcott, was a British writer of travel and children's books, as well as an illustrator. She went to Brazil on her return to England from Chile in 1823, which is the year Brazil declared their independence from Portugal. She stayed at the royal palace.
Image Title
Gate & Slave Market at Pernambuco
RegID
SI-OB-741
Date
1820s
Title
Gate & Slave Market at Pernambuco
Source
Maria Graham, Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, and Residence there during. . . 1821, 1822, 1823 (London, 1824), opposite p. 107. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-97202.
Language
English
Item sets
Slave Sales & Auctions: African Coast & the Americas
Spatial Coverage
South America--Brazil--Pernambuco
Reproduced In
Maria Graham, Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, and Residence there during . . . 1821, 1822, 1823 (London, 1824), opposite p. 107.
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Sarah Thomas; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
10-May-12
Identifier
H011