A painting in Dyrham House, a grand mansion in southwest England, offers a panoramic view of the port of Bridgetown, Barbados, with sugar plantations dotted along a hillside.
In another room are two carved figures depicting kneeling Black men, holding scallop shells overhead.
They are chained at the ankles and neck.
These works belonged to William Blathwayt, who owned Dyrham in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and, as Britain’s auditor general of plantation revenues, oversaw the profits that rolled in from the colonies.
Explaining the history of a place like Dyrham can be contentious, as the National Trust, the nearly 130-year-old charity that manages many of Britain’s prized historic homes, has found out.
Persons:
William Blathwayt
Organizations:
National Trust
Locations:
House, England, Bridgetown, Barbados