A Piebald Man
Reproduction
Object numberRCSSC/HDB/2/2/179A
Scientific nameHomo sapiens
CollectionSpecial collections
CategoryVisual works
Object namePiebaldism, Portraits, Pen-and-wash drawings
TitleA Piebald Man
DescriptionPortrait of a black man with a skin pigmentation condition, artist unknown, late 18th century.
Full length, leaning against a tree behind him and to his left. The man is black, but has a white 'v'-shaped patch starting on his forehead just above the briodge of the nose, and extending upwards over the crown of his head. Both the skin of his forehead and his hair are white. There is a large irregular white patch on his exposed chest, and others on his legs above and below each knee. He is dressed in a white sheet which forms a narrow band across his waist, and is drapes over both shoulders. His left arm, wrapped in the drape, is tuck down to his side, while his outstretched right arm rests on the end of a wooden club, the other end of which rests on the ground just behind his right foot.
Spotted or speckled black skin as exhibited in this picture provided unusual subject matter for artists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The dress and club are intended to suggest savagery or primitivism, and were common motifs for portraits such as this which sought to highlight the exotic nature of their subjects.
This drawing was owned by John Hunter and was made before 1793. The man may be John Bobey (or Boby) (b 1772), who exhibited himself in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as 'The Wonderful Spotted Indian' (see related records).
Owner/user
presented
Related objectsRCSSC/P 593
Physical Location
LocationNot on public display: contact museum for access conditions
Physical Information
Physical descriptionPen and wash on paper.
