WORKSHOP OF JAN CLAUDIUS DE COCK (1667-1735), FLEMISH, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

In Antwerp, where Jan Claudius de Cock’s workshop was based, the Black community was growing as a result of the transatlantic slave trade, making access to African models and/or first-hand observation possible. While the model may have been based on an individual, evidence suggests these renderings portray a ‘type.’ Enslaved or sometimes emancipated African men and boys worked in European port cities as seamen and could be seen arriving at the busy sea docks or working as domestic servants or in other roles in day to day life. A young child, either from Africa or of African descent, such as the inspiration for this bust would have lived a restricted life, though possibly afforded some degree of affluency as an ‘exotic’ member of society. Nkechi Noel writes on the model in the V&A African Heritage Guide, ‘The sculpture is a stark reminder of the loss of innocence and inhumane bondage of the slave trade, and the importance of including all of our voices in retelling collective historical narratives.’

De Cock and his workshop are thought to have produced several versions of this expressive model in various media including bronze, plaster, and marble. Versions can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum (no. A18-1913) and The Walters Art Museum (no. 2053), among other collections. Of the known versions, none are identical, varying principally in the decoration on the medallion. These busts may have been carved in the workshop and then completed with a medallion decoration customized to the purchaser- the present version showing a crown on the face of the medallion. A similar, full-length version of a young boy by Jan de Cock is in the Rijksmuseum (no. R.B.K. 1972-134), showing the figure with a headdress and band of feathers hanging on the chest with the medallion. The full length figure could perhaps personify a particular unidentified colony as opposed to an individual (J. Leeuwenberg and W. Halsema-Kubes).