Ganhadeiras: sculptures of Black workers of Brazil
Discover the works of the 19th century Bahian artist Erotides de Araújo
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Erotides Américo de Araújo Lopes
There’s not much information about sculptor Erotides Américo de Araújo Lopes, a specialist in miniatures born in Bahia in 1847. One of his best-known works is the series “Tipos de rua”, which is on display at the National Historical Museum.
Street sellers and service providers from 19th century (1867/1890) by Erotides Américo de Araújo LopesMuseu Histórico Nacional
"Tipos de rua"
The series consistes of a set of wooden sculptures that portray profiles of Black slave workers on the streets of Brazil.
Street sellers and service providers from 19th century (1867/1890) by Erotides Américo de Araújo LopesMuseu Histórico Nacional
From this group of miniatures, we selected the female figures because they represent “as ganhadeiras”, a form of work widely practiced by Black women, both enslaved and free.
Papaya sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
Enslaved, free and freed “ganhadeiras”
The “ganho” was a system of work performed by enslaved, free and freed people in the colonial and imperial times of Brazil, when “ganhadeiros ” and “ganhadeiras” carried out different activities, specialized or not.
Banana sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
The women stood out in the small trade, walking through the streets with their trays of fruits, sweets, delicacies and fish, balanced on their heads or offering their products at fixed points throughout the city.
Fish sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
The enslaved women who practiced the “ganho” regime should give back to theirowners, on a pre-stablished date, part of the amount earned by them. Such a system allowed many of them to use the surplus in the purchase of their manumissions.
Fish sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
Free or manumitted women were owners of their gain, achieving their survival and even a certain economic prosperity.
Negro fish sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
Living by themselves
The development of the “ganho” system increased the mobility of enslaved women in urban centers. The time spent on the streets gave them great autonomy of movement, which changed their daily lives.
Fruits sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
Some enslaved “ganhadeiras” negotiated the possibility of not living with their owners. However, staying outside the owner's house meant ensuring their own sustenance.
Fruits sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
Far from the owner's eyes, they chose their partners more freely, built family bonds and friendships, and raised their children.
Bahia woman on her Sunday clothesMuseu Histórico Nacional
Prenuptial agreements
Marriage could ensure better living conditions for some women, but for others, especially the free and freed, when they prospered in commerce, they faced the risk of losing their savings to their husbands.
Bahia woman on her Sunday clothesMuseu Histórico Nacional
Although prenuptial agreements were not rare in colonial Brazil, the number of freed women who sought such agreements as a strategy to conserve the patrimony acquired with so much effort is impressive.
Bunch of Balangandãs (charm bracelet) (1885 (circa)) by UnknownMuseu Histórico Nacional
The care to preserve the accumulated savings showed some economic power, in addition to the desire to pass them on to their children, godchildren or whoever else they chose.
Slave woman working as a street sellerMuseu Histórico Nacional
Children
In addition to daily services, enslaved women had their workday increased by the care related to pregnancy and maternity.
A market at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1847 (circa)) by Adolphe D’ HastrelMuseu Histórico Nacional
Enslaved mothers carried their children strapped to their backs during their business activities or left them with the older women or older captive children. This made it possible to build networks of solidarity and mutual protection.
Marrecas Fountain (1830/1839) by Armand Julien PallièreMuseu Histórico Nacional
Recognition of Viradouro
Inspired by the Ganhadeiras de Itapuã, a female musical group who praise their ancestry through songs, the samba school Unidos do Viradouro presented a samba-enredo in honor of those women.
To learn more
FARIA, Sheila de Castro. “Mulheres forras: riqueza e estigma social”. In: Revista Tempo, nº 9, jul. 2000 https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/1670/167018237005.pdf (visto em 31/08/2022).
MATTOSO, Kátia Queiroz. “O filho da escrava (em torno da Lei do Ventre Livre)”. In: São Paulo: Revista Brasileira de História, vol. 8, nº 16, 1988. https://anpuh.org.br/index.php/revistas-anpuh/rbh (visto em 14/09/2022).
REIS, João José e SILVA, Eduardo. Negociação e conflito: a resistência negra no Brasil escravista. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras. https://pt.scribd.com/document/564134536/Negociacao-e-Conflito-a-Resistencia-Negra-No-Brasil-Escravista (visto em 06/09/2022).
SANTOS, Ynaê Lopes dos. Além da senzala: arranjos escravos de moradia no Rio de Janeiro (1808-1850). Tese de mestrado. São Paulo: USP, 2006. https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8138/tde-10072007-113154/publico/TESE_YNAE_LOPES_SANTOS.pdf (visto em 01/09/2022).
_____. “Autonomia escrava na formação do Estado nacional brasileiro: o caso do morar sobre si no Rio de Janeiro”. In: São Paulo: e-a, nº 6, 2007 https://www.revistas.usp.br/alb/article/view/11674 (visto em 08/09/2022).
SOARES, Cecília Moreira. “As ganhadeiras: mulher e resistência negra em Salvador no século XIX”. In: Salvador: Afro-Ásia, nº 17, 1996. https://periodicos.ufba.br/index.php/afroasia/article/view/20856/13456 (visto em 31/08/2022).
SOUSA, Caroline Passarini; TARDIVO, Giovana Puppin; HAACK, Marina Camilo. “Localizando a mulher escravizada nos mundos do trabalho”. In: Niterói: Revista Cantareira, nº 34, 2021. https://periodicos.uff.br/cantareira/article/view/44322 (visto em 14/09/2022).
“Ganhadeiras de Itapuã”, samba-enredo do Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Viradouro de 2020, de autoria de Cláudio Russo, Paulo César Feital, Diego Nicolau, Júlio Alves, Dadinho, Rildo Seixas, Manolo, Anderson Lemos e Carlinhos Fionda.
Text and research
Daniele Del Giudice de Andrada
Exhibition assembly
Adriana Bandeira Cordeiro
Photographies
Jaime Acioli
Aknowledgments
Álvaro Marins de Almeida
Bárbara Deslandes Primo
Daniella Gomes dos Santos
George de Abreu
Jaime Acioli
Maria do Carmo Rainho
Simone Kimura
Valéria Regina Abdalla Farias
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