Imagery and slogans
At the request of the London Committee in 1787 the potter Josiah Wedgwood produced a medallion with the image of an African man kneeling and in chains with the motto 'Am I not a Man and a Brother?'. It was widely copied (or variations of it) and appeared over and over again on a range of items, such as seals, cufflinks, teasets and even women's jewellery and accessories. It effectively became the emblem for the movement.
Joseph and Elizabeth Taylor of Middlesborough owned this cup in the 1820s. It was given to the Library in 1916 by their grand-daughter Margaret Graham, who recalled being told that the tea-set of which this is a survivor was purchased with money saved when the whole family gave up sugar in protest against slavery. One side of the cup shows a transfer print of the kneeling slave image and the other side has a reference to the Bible, Hebrews 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them…"
In 1789 700 copies of the print of the slave ship 'Brookes' were printed by the Quaker printer James Phillips. Showing sections of the ship and the inhumane way in which slaves were stowed, this drawing and variations on it became one of the most iconic and shocking images of the movement.
From Cries of Africa to the inhabitants of Europe 1823
[SR 051.6.A2 Volume 13 /5]
This close-up of one such diagram was included in the Portugese edition of an anti-slavery tract called 'Cries of Africa to the inhabitants of Europe' written by Thomas Clarkson.
