A coloured enamel plaque, showing a pleading African with huts, trees and a ship in the distance. The plaque has been mounted on the front of a drawer handle, with the legend ‘Am I not a man and a brother’.

The Wedgwood plaque image of the kneeling slave was quickly adapted for use across a bewildering range of goods and media. Abolitionist households might have had prints, crockery, glassware, soft furnishings etc. all decorated with versions of the original.

The manifestation of abolitionist material in the domestic sphere is a further indication of the significant role played by women in promoting and advancing the cause.