A man in chains, Before 1896

Joseph Fussell (1818 - 1912)

RA Collection: Art

This object contains visual material that may be upsetting or offensive. Where possible, we are in the process of providing additional information about the object to contextualise its content, production and meaning in the society and era in which it was created.

We continuously work to improve the documentation and presentation of our online Collections. If you have any comments or additional information about the object, please contact us at library@royalacademy.org.uk.

This watercolour drawing shows a man of African origin, chained and sitting on a rock or mound. The background evokes a tropical environment and this is possibly a depiction of an enslaved man. The artist Joseph Fussell (1818-1912) might have encountered this man while traveling through a British colony, the southern states or a Caribbean island. Although slavery was abolished in Britain in 1807, it continued across the British Empire until 1833 and in parts of the United States until 1865.

Fussell might have visited societies which still relied on the exploitation of enslaved people, so this figure could have been drawn from life. However, it is possible that the scene depicts a prisoner or a figure imagined by the artist.