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AEDWedgwood Black and White Jasperware Anti-Slavery Medallion
About Seller
200 Oakwood Ln, Suite 200
Hollywood, FL 33020
United States
For over 30 years we’ve been buyers and sellers of Art, Antiques, and Collectibles. Full Service Auction House located in South Florida. Certified appraisals and valuation services. Estate sales and liquidation – nationwide service including pickup, packing and transport. Offices in Palm Beach, Orla...Read more
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About Auction
LiveMar 25, 2026
The Museum Collection: Rare Art and Artifacts Day 1 features 260 lots of ethnographic works and antiquities. Highlights include Pre Columbian pottery and figures from Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, and Bolivia, African carved masks and tribal sculptures, Russian Orthodox icons, and Spanish Colonial santos. Additional offerings include American folk art and carved wood figures. A diverse sale of cultural artifacts spanning multiple regions and traditions. Lion and Unicorn info@lionandunicorn.com
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- Lot Description
Black and white Jasperware anti-slavery medallion re-issued in 1959 to commemorate the birth of the British abolitionist Wm. Wilberforce stands among the most historically significant objects of the early abolitionist movement. Originally produced by the celebrated English potter Josiah Wedgwood in the late eighteenth century, the medallion became one of the most recognizable visual emblems of the campaign to end the transatlantic slave trade. Modelled in oval form, the design depicts an enslaved man in profile, kneeling in supplication with clasped hands beneath the raised inscription, “AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?” The reverse bears impressed marks for “Wedgwood” and “Made in England.” The present example measures approximately 1 3/8 inches and is housed in a 2 x 2 cardboard holder bearing an early handwritten note referencing its 1787 association with the Slave Emancipation Society.
In 1787, Wedgwood, a prominent industrialist and member of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, translated the movement’s moral argument into visual form. Designed after a seal commissioned by the Society, the medallion was reproduced in jasperware and widely distributed. Wedgwood sent examples free of charge to supporters, who mounted them as brooches, cufflinks, hair ornaments, and decorative insets. Women in particular wore the medallion as jewelry, transforming personal adornment into political advocacy. The image circulated throughout Britain and America, becoming one of the first instances of mass-produced political imagery used to influence public opinion.
The medallion’s stark black figure against a white ground was both aesthetically refined and rhetorically direct. It appealed simultaneously to Enlightenment ideals, Christian morality, and emerging humanitarian sentiment. Historians often cite this design as an early example of effective political branding, merging art, industry, and activism at a scale previously unseen. Its distribution helped galvanize public support that ultimately contributed to the British Slave Trade Act of 1807 and later emancipation efforts.
Surviving examples remain highly sought after not only by collectors of Wedgwood and eighteenth-century ceramics, but also by historians of social reform, African diaspora material culture, and early political propaganda. The present medallion reflects the technical precision of Wedgwood’s jasperware production and embodies one of the most consequential visual statements of the abolitionist cause. Few ceramic objects so clearly represent the intersection of craftsmanship and moral conviction during the Age of Enlightenment.
Issued: c. 1787
Dimensions: Medallion only: 1.00" dia. Country of Origin: England
Weight: 5.62gCondition
Good
- Shipping Info
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10. Shipping and/or pick-up of each lot item is ultimately the responsibility of the purchaser. As a convenience for certain lot items, Lion and Unicorn will include a quote for available in-house shipping on each invoice. Shipping quotes are based on volume and size of the items, in addition to distance. If purchaser wishes to arrange their own shipping or pick-up of the lot item(s), such arrangements must be arranged and confirmed to Lion and Unicorn within the time period outlined in Paragraph 6 above. With respect to lot items for which Lion and Unicorn does not provide an in-house shipping quote, upon request we will provide the purchaser with a list of shippers who deliver to destinations within the United States and overseas. Some property that is sold at auction can be subject to laws governing export from the U.S., such as items that include material from some endangered species and subject to CITES regulations. Import restrictions from foreign countries are subject to these same governing laws and CITES regulations. Granting of licensing for import or export of goods from local authorities is the sole responsibility of the purchaser. Denial or delay of licensing will not constitute cancellation or delay in payment for the total purchase price of these lots.
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