Engraving was done after one of John Gabriel Stedman's own drawings, which record his impressions of Surinam. According to the accompanying text, it shows "a negro family in that state of tranquil happiness, which they always enjoy under a humane and indulgent master." Stedman described the illustration as follows: "The figures in the plate are supposed to be of the Loango nation, by the marks on the man's body, while on his breast may be seen J.G.S. in a cypher, by which his owner may ascertain his property. He carries a basket with small fish, and a net upon his head, with a large fish in his hand, caught by himself in the river. His wife, who is pregnant, is employed in carrying different kinds of fruit, spinning a thread of cotton upon her distaff, and comfortably smoking her pipe of tobacco. Besides all this, she has a boy upon her back, and another playing by her side." (vol. 2, p. 280), Plate LXVIII in John Gabriel Stedman's Narrative, of a five year's expedition, against the revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America; from the year 1772 to 1777 (London: Printed for J. Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard, & J. Edwards, Pall Mall, 1796), vol. 2, p. 280., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
Creator
Blake, William, 1757-1827, engraver
Date
[between 1791 and 1796]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1796 Sted 755.Q v 2 p 280, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2701
