There are so many black attendants in 17th and 18th European portraiture that it's hard to estimate their number. Virtually none are named, and one suspects that many were ciphers and signifiers rather than actual servants. Perhaps the art worlds had a stable of young Africans for use as required. There were enough such working in wealthy households to supply the demand.
Despite the ubiquity, it is worth noting their presence. As in the unattributed portrait of Sir John Chardin in the NPG [above] and Ashmolean [below]. The picture is so disregarded - because so commonplace - that when reproduced the Black boy holding up the maps is hard to discern. He is more visible in the monochrome image, which also shows the stupendously ornate frame to this painting.
The three-quarter 50-inch square portrait dates to about 1710 when French-born Chardin was in his 60s. Born in Paris, he was a jeweller and diamond merchant who settled in England, becoming famous for his travels to Persia and India, to seek gems and expand trade with the East. The maps in the portrait refer to these territories, so the servant is not signalling Caribbean properties, though quite possibly Chardin invested there.
In any event, he and the [as yet anonymous] artist chose to represent him with the fashionable accessory of the age, an enslaved attendant.
No comments:
Post a Comment