Patination is the process of artificially colouring the surface of the metal or changing its appearance. True patina is created by chemical changes to the surface through long exposure to the elements. Artificial patina is created through the application of drying oils, resins, pigments or acids to protect the surface or to enhance or change the colour of the metal. Heat is sometimes used in this process. The surface can also be enriched by adding gold (‘gilding’) or silver. The yellow-gold patina achieved here is typical of French bronzes of the period. They were intended to imitate the finish of contemporary Florentine bronzes. It may have originally been part of furniture or a clock.

France colonised islands in the West Indies in the 17th century, with the aim of transforming them into profitable sugar-producing economies fuelled by the labour of enslaved Africans. French involvement in the transatlantic trade continued to grow over the following century, but in 1791 there was a massive slave revolt in Saint-Domingue, one of the most profitable colonies. On 1 January 1804, the territory became Haiti, the first black republic.

This decorative bronze figure was made in France in the 1660s, during the reign of Louis XIV, whose chief minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, was the architect of French colonial policy. The figure is probably one of a pair made to embellish a clock or a piece of furniture. Its pose - on one knee, with the wrists manacled together and the face uplifted in an attitude of supplication - clearly identifies the figure as a slave. The 'native' dress, with feathered headdress, shield, quiver and arrow, and a skirtcloth with a decorative waistband, suggests that it may represent one of the Four Continents, who were often shown as female figures. However, as slavery spread throughout the New World, these accoutrements became synonymous with the depiction of slaves.'