Rug

Aubusson

1775/1800

  • Titles Rug (Descriptive)
  • Artist Aubusson, France
  • Medium wool
  • Dimensions 259 1/2 x 194 1/2 in. [irregular, side width at other end 193 in.] (659.1 x 494 cm)
  • Credit Line Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; Gift of Philippa and Frank Bainbridge, AFI.180.2011
  • Work Type rug
  • Classification Rugs

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Identified by Ames as "Blind Jack," born John Metcalfe of Knaresborough (1717-1810). He became blind at age six, but learned to play the violin, ride, swim, build houses and bridges, and is famous for the many roads constructed by him.
Laureate head in profile right.
Bust in profile left in fur-trimmed coat.
Small oval medallion of white jasperware with black jasper relief of an enslaved African man wearing only a loin cloth, kneeling and in shackles, with his hands grasped together, around him the inscription AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?