"Schiavo da vendere" tempera/gouache on machine-made paper, 19th century

Schiavo da vendere
Tempera / gouache on machine-made paper, 19th century
Unsigned, the initials „BC” painted with a brush in the lower right

The work shows an African man seen from behind, caught in a slight turn of the head towards the viewer. The figure is wrapped in a white drapery that contrasts strongly with the dark tone of the skin, while the neutral background concentrates the whole attention on the sitter. Beneath the image, executed with the brush, appears the inscription „Schiavo da vendere”, an element that gives the image an explicitly documentary character and reflects the language specific to a period in which the slave trade was still a subject of visual and ethnographic interest.

The execution denotes confident drawing and a good knowledge of human anatomy. The volumes are modelled through fine layers of gouache or tempera, and the folds of the drapery are treated with care in an academic manner close to studio illustration. Although the composition is simple, the emphasis falls on the study of the body and on the restrained expression of the figure, suggesting that the artist was pursuing an anthropological type rather than a narrative scene.

The Italian title and the manner of execution suggest a possible Italian or Mediterranean origin, consistent with the artistic production intended for geographical and ethnographic illustration in the second half of the nineteenth century. In this period there were numerous albums devoted to the peoples of Africa, the Near East and the Mediterranean basin, and such images circulated both as original works and as models for engravings and chromolithographs.

The support is a machine-made paper characteristic of the nineteenth century. The state of preservation is modest, with pronounced browning of the paper, numerous galleries and perforations made by wood-boring insects (commonly called worm holes), oxidation spots and general wear.

The initials „BC”, placed discreetly in the lower right, appear to constitute an artist's or workshop monogram. In the absence of a full signature or a documented provenance, the attribution remains open and requires further research.

Artistically, the work does not appear to be by an established artist, but it is of interest for:

• its original, hand-executed character;
• the relatively rare and, from the perspective of the history of the slave trade, sensitive subject;
• the original contemporary inscription;
• the good quality of the drawing and the modelling;
• its possible character as a preparatory study or an ethnographic illustration.

Dimensions 24x16 cm.