Cup and Saucer with an Abolitionist Scene

This cup and saucer were probably made for a Dutch anti-slavery committee. Such women’s groups sold embroidery, jewellery and chinaware for the benefit of enslaved people in Suriname and other colonies. The decoration is after a design by the English porcelain manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood, a leading supporter of the anti-slavery movement. The English abolished slavery in 1833. In Suriname and the Dutch Antilles this took place only in 1863.