‘I shall describe no more’: Reconnecting Black Histories to the Beckford Collection at Charlecote Park
- Event type
- Seminar
- Series
- British History in the Long 18th Century
- Address
- Hybrid | Online-via Zoom & IHR Wolfson Room NB01, Basement, IHR, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
- Speakers
- Annabelle Gilmore (University of Birmingham)
- Event dates
- Contact
- [email protected] Email only
The Beckford collection at Charlecote Park, a National Trust property in Warwickshire was purchased by George Hammond Lucy (1789 – 1845) at the Fonthill Abbey sale in 1823. The objects had originally belonged to William Thomas Beckford (1760 – 1844), famous gothic author and art collector but also a prominent absentee enslaver. This talk explores some of the ways that histories of slavery have been ‘quieted’ over time in the object histories of art collections.
This talk will be framed through the lens of the enslaved people who laboured on Beckford’s plantations. It will consider how their labour became part of the object’s histories at an intersection of the object biographies as these particular objects are luxury items from Asia. Importantly, the talk considers the enslaved people themselves, including Jane, Dann, and George by reflecting on the nature of the archive in uncovering their histories. It analyses the processes involved during William Beckford’s ‘ownership’ of the enslaved people and owner of the collection, and then by George Lucy’s ownership of selected objects which became the Beckford collection at Charlecote Park, which minimised these histories of enslaved labour in the object histories. It will then look to how the display of these objects at Charlecote today can make louder these histories of enslavement.
This seminar aims to create a welcoming space for discussion and debate, fostering a professional environment where diverse views and perspectives can be shared. You can find more on this via our seminar page on the IHR website.
All welcome. This event is free to attend, but advance registration is required.
This will be a ‘hybrid’ seminar with a limited number of places available in person and a larger number of bookings for online attendance via Zoom. Those attending in person are asked to bring a Wi-Fi enabled laptop, tablet or phone.
The session will start at the slightly later time of 17:30.
