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The large blue and white platter depicts a large three-masted ship and smaller ships before a castle-like structure. The activity of loading the large merchant vessel with goods is seemingly taking place, but here the cargo is that of human beings. Originally built as trade post for commodities, Cape Coast Castle in West Africa (now Ghana) became a center of the transatlantic slave trade in the 1700s.
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Images
Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, English, 1759–present
Roger Williams Jug, 1886
Earthenware with transfer print and glaze
Gift of Mrs. John L. Stiness 16.127
Chinese (for export)
Sugar Bowl, ca. 1785–1790
Porcelain with underglaze blue, enamels, glaze, and gilding
Gift of William A. Viall III in memory of Gretchen Viall 2016.102.18
Enoch Wood and Sons, English, 1818–1846
Cape Coast Castle Platter, ca. 1840
Earthenware with transfer print and glaze
Gift of Edward B. Aldrich in memory of Lora E. Aldrich 35.195
