Between the Covers

Unbound. Original vintage porcelain figurine, reportedly of Sojourner Truth. Measuring approximately 5.5" high; 2" diameter at the base. White porcelain glazed in black, brown, red and yellow. The figurine, which supposedly depicts the nineteenth-century African-American activist Sojourner Truth, with mouth wide open (as if screaming) holding a large brown club hanging by her side, and in her left hand holding a tablet which reads: "Votes for Women." The base of the figurine states: "Suffragette".

The coloring shows moderate wear, and light soiling, with loss of color mainly along the head and shoulders indicating wear over time, from handling, else very good. Another example of this figurine was displayed at Saint Louis University, McNamee Gallery, in the Women's Suffrage exhibition entitled: "A Voice of Their Own: A Visual History of How Women Got the Vote." The figurine was reproduced in their online exhibition catalog, with the caption: "Sojourner Truth, Votes for Women... glazed porcelain." We do know on what basis it was attributed to be Sojourner Truth.

The figurine has been attributed by other scholars to the German manufacturer Schafer and Vater of Rudolstadt, Germany. The company was founded in 1896, and they began exporting to the United States in the early twentieth century. Not content with denigrating African-Americans, the manufacturer of this figurine used the opportunity to insult women as well. Nevertheless, very, very uncommon, and illustrative of the sort of drollery indulged in by importers.

Item #511668