Basin

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This silver dish was probably commissioned in London as a corporate gift for the New Royal African Company, which had a monopoly on England’s commerce with West Africa between 1672 and 1698. The company bought and sold commodities such as ivory and gold, but its most lucrative business was trafficking enslaved Africans. Between 1672 and 1731 its officers forcibly transported almost 200,000 enslaved people to British colonies in the Americas. This dish, engraved with the company’s coat of arms, may have been presented to a dignitary, investor, or merchant as thanks for assisting in a negotiation.

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