Toussaint Louverture thumbnail 1
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Toussaint Louverture

Print
1802 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Unknown (printed)
Place of origin
Paris (printed)

The leader of the slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint Domingue, Toussaint Louverture, rides on an rearing horse holding his sword aloft. He wears full military dress and is set against a view of a port with a building in the background.

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visit V&A trail: Britain and the Caribbean In this trail Avril Horsford, one of our African Heritage Gallery Guides, explores the traumatic history that connects Britain and the Caribbean, resulting from the lucrative and brutal trade in enslaved Africans, taken to work on sugar plantations in the 17th century. These objects reveal...

Object details

Categories
Black History
Slavery & Abolitionism
Prints
Caribbean
Object type
Print
TitleToussaint Louverture (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured etching on laid paper
Laid Paper
Printing Ink
Etching
Etching
Brief description
Toussaint Louverture on horseback; hand coloured etching by an unknown artist; French, 1802
Physical description
The leader of the slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint Domingue, Toussaint Louverture, rides on an rearing horse holding his sword aloft. He wears full military dress and is set against a view of a port with a building in the background.
Dimensions
  • Size of image height: 28.9cm
  • Size of image width: 20.5cm
  • Size of platemark height: 31.8cm
  • Size of platemark width: 23.3cm
  • Size of sheet height: 39.8cm
  • Size of sheet width: 26.1cm
Content description
The slave uprising in Saint Dominigue begun in 1791 and successfully contributed to the abolition of slavery on the island. It led to the creation of the independent republic of Haiti in 1804.
Marks and inscriptions
TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE Chef des Noirs Insurgés de Saint Domingue A Paris chez Jean, rue de Beauvais No 10. (Printed in ink below the image)
Translation
Toussaint Louverture, Chief of the Black Rebels of Saint Domingue, In Paris at Jean, Rue de Beauvais number 10
Gallery label
(09/12/2015)
François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture
1802

Represented here as a high-ranking military leader, Toussaint L’Ouverture embodies the egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution. He led the slave uprising of 1791 in the French colony of Saint Domingue (now Haiti). This overseas rebellion played an important role in the French abolition of slavery three years later.

France (Paris)
Hand-coloured etching
Subjects depicted
Slavery
Revolution
Associations
Slave Uprising in Saint Domingue
Toussaint Louverture
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
29510:20

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O961347/toussaint-louverture-print-unknown/
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