The Portuguese slaver Diligenté captured by H.M. Sloop Pearl with 600 slaves on board, taken in charge to Nassau

Object Details

Created by

Lieutenant Henry Samuel Hawker, English, 1816 - 1889

Caption

The slave ship Diligente was engaged in the illegal slave trade when it was seized in 1838. A lieutenant in the British Royal Navy painted this scene from the ship. He captured the trauma of the Middle Passage in images of malnutrition and overcrowding.

Source: Nancy Bercaw, Curator, Slavery and Freedom

Description

A watercolor painting of a slave ship showing five crew members with multiple enslaved persons crowded on the weather deck. A Portuguese flag flies from the ship and the sketched outline of another ship is visible in the background.

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

May 1838

Object number

2010.21.2ab

Restrictions & Rights

Public domain

Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Type

watercolors

Medium

watercolor on paper (fiber product)

Dimensions

H x W: 11 3/8 x 17 1/8 in. (28.9 x 43.5 cm)

Place depicted

Jamaica, Caribbean, North and Central America

Portugal, Europe

Nassau, Bahamas, Caribbean, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification

Visual Arts

Slavery and Freedom Objects

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American

Africa

Art

Law

Military

Slavery

Trans Atlantic slave trade

Record ID

nmaahc_2010.21.2ab

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5320730ca-6bd4-41e9-ac93-5ccf375e79ad