Robinson & Leadbeater
Greek Slave

Public Domain

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Maker Robinson & LeadbeaterEnglish, active c.1860–1924

Artistafter Hiram Powers American, 1805–1873

CultureEnglish

Titles

Greek Slave

Datec.1860–1880

Made inStoke-on-Trent, England

MediumPorcelain (parian ware)

Dimensions11 1/2 × 3 3/8 in. (29.2 × 8.5 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by First Interstate Bank of Texas, N.A. at "One Great Night in November, 1992"

Object numberB.92.18

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Belter Parlor

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

SCULPTURE

DescriptionHiram Powers’s Greek Slave was one of nineteenth-century America’s most famous works of art, receiving much public attention and acclaim as Powers put two versions of the sculpture on tour beginning in 1847. The sculpture referred to the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, depicting a captive white Christian woman. Framed in this context, Powers’ work avoided direct comment on the issue of slavery in the United States, allowing viewers to see in it an abolitionist message if they chose. This version in parian porcelain—meant to imitate marble—was one of many smaller, mass-produced copies that Americans were able to buy to display in their homes.
Provenance[Joan Bogart, Rosslyn, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1992.
Exhibition History"A Present from the Staffordshire Potteries," Theta Charity Antiques Show of Houston, George R. Brown Convention Center, September 23–26, 2004.

"Art Across America," National Museum of Korea, Seoul, Korea, February 4–May 19, 2013; Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, Korea, June 17–September 1, 2013.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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