The head and shoulders of a young Black boy, shown in three-quarter profile to the right. Wearing a soft plain white collar with three dog-toothed stripes at back, and doublet with six buttons. 1st state of two.

From 1635 to 1645, Hollar made five etchings of Black servants and enslaved people. Though the specificity and individuality of these etchings suggests they were likely drawn from life, the identity of the boy shown in this print is unknown, however the clothes he wears are typical of a servant in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. The Dutch were actively involved in the transatlantic slave trade, and it is likely that this child was enslaved and taken to the Netherlands to work as a servant for a Dutch family. Hollar could have created this print during time he spent in the Dutch Republic in the 1630s or 1640s.

The Royal Collection holds several prints created by Hollar depicting Black servants and enslaved people (RCINS 804317–804326, 804328). For other impressions of this print see RCIN 804323 and 804326. Hollar may have created these prints as a way to demonstrate his talent - as noted in Black in Rembrandt's Time rendering dark skin in an etching required a high level of technical skill: 'there was a high risk that the close hatching grooves meant to hold the ink would break down' leaving areas of white where black had been intended (Black in Rembrandt's Time, Elmer Kolfin and Epco Runia, exh cat., Rembrandt House Museum, 2020, p. 34).