He Takes Faces at the Lowest Rates (episode 229)

HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

In 1773, an ad appeared in the Boston Gazette for a Black artist who was described as possessing an “extraordinary genius” for painting portraits. From this brief mention, we will explore the life of a gifted visual artist who was enslaved in Boston, his friendship with Phillis Wheatley, the enslaved poet, and the mental gymnastics that were required on the part of white enslavers to justify owning people like property. Through the life of a second gifted painter, we’ll find out how the coming of the American Revolution changed life for some enslaved African Americans in Boston. And through the unanswered questions about the lives of both these men, we’ll examine the limits of what historical sources can tell us about any given enslaved individual.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/229/

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He Takes Faces at the Lowest Rates

• February 4, 1773 edition of The Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News Letter includes an ad for an enslaved African American man who posesses “extraordinary genius” and who “takes faces at the lowest rates.”
• Letter from Robert Calef with the Countess Huntingdon’s request for a portrait of Phillis Wheatley to be used as a frontispiece
• To S.M., A Young African Painter, Upon Seeing His Works, by Phillis Wheatley
• The frontispiece of Wheatley’s book, which may be adapted from a portrait by Scipio
• Eric Slauter’s essay “Looking for Scipio Moorhead” appears in the book Slave Portraiture in the Atlantic World, edited by Agnes Lugo-Ortiz and Angela Rosenthal
• Roberts, Wendy Raphael. “Phillis Wheatley’s Sarah Moorhead: An Initial Inquiry.” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, vol. 107, no. 3, 2013
• Lacey, Barbara E. “Visual Images of Blacks in Early American Imprints.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 1, 1996
• “An Elegy, To Miss Mary Moorhead, On the Death of her Father, The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead,” by Phillis Wheatley, broadside printed by William McAlpine
• Diary entry of Reverend David McClure documenting his stay with the widow Moorhead after John’s death (h/t JL Bell)
• January 2, 1775 edition of the Boston Gazette and Country Journal carrying an ad for the auction of Rev John Moorhead’s estate, including the enslaved painter Scipio.
• Prince Demah’s signed portrait of William Duguid in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Article by Paula Bagger and Amelia Peck in Antiques Magazine, describing how the Met came to acquire a Prince Demah portrait
• Article by Paula Bagger about rediscovering Prince Demah in the Hingham Historical Society archives (includes Prince’s portraits of Henry and Christian Barnes)
• A 1774 receipt signed by “Prince Demah,” proving he dropped Barnes as quickly as possible (h/t Caitlin DeAngelis)
• Christian Barnes’ March 1770 letter describing her intent to market Prince’s portrait skills and Henry Barnes’ Feb 1771 letter about his fears that Prince will self-emancipate if exposed to Black Londoners (also surfaced by Caitlin DeAngelis)
• More context about how families like the Wheatleys and Moorheads thought about enslaving people via Mark Peterson’s The City-State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power 1630-1865