An Emblem of America | 1798 Painting Showing a Black Native American
9:53 PMIs it just me or does the figure in this 1798 painting depicting an American native have dark brown skin? Not only that, but the native has a turban on and, for the most part, looks the same as the depictions from this artist of the indigenous Africans.
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Date 1798 "An Emblem of America" Published 1st. Feb.y 1801, by Haines & Son |
It seems that most all depictions of Native Americans pre-1850 showed people with dark brown skin. That's not all, they also tend to have curly hair, broad noses, and thick lips. In other words they looked like the so-called "African American".
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"An Emblem of America" - 1798 - a Mezzotint by British engraver John Fairburn |
I'll just leave the rest of this out there for you to decide.

Sources:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3338907&partId=1&people=14502&peoA=14502-2-70&page=1
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/john-fairburn-publisher-an-emblem-of-america-5672841-details.aspx
http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Misc/Americas/Black_Indians.htm
4 comments
Hey this was a really interesting post for me but i really wish there was more text to it for further elaboration but will surely read on it more.
ReplyDeleteWell check out the sources at the bottom of the article for starters. Peace
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