An oval jasperware plaque, the white plaque with the moulded letters 'AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER' with applied black low relief decoration of a supplicant black enslaved man, in the act of praying, his hands clasped together, his arms chained to his legs, his right knee to the ground. These plaques were modelled by William Hackwood or Henry Webber, modellers at the Wedgwood factory. The pose of supplication appealed to white European views of converting enslaved people to Christianity and ideas of humility, although in the longer term it suggested ideas of racial inferiority. In 1788 a consignment of these medallions was sent to Benjamin Franklin in the United States; distributed there among abolitionists and anti-slavery campaigners, they were worn in jewellery and hair ornaments and set into snuff boxes.