{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O127394"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O127394/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BM3222/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BM3222/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BM3222","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O127394/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O127394","accessionNumber":"E.1215G-1886","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"A Coromantyn Free Negro, or Ranger, armed","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"The Dutch captured the British colony of Suriname during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1667). Under the West India Company it was developed as a plantation slave society and became a primary destination for the Dutch slave trade. The brutal regime caused high mortality; despite the import of 300,000 slaves between 1668 and 1823, the population never grew beyond 50,000. ‘Maroonage’ became the major form of resistance. Fugitive slaves, or ‘maroons’, escaped inland to form permanent communities from where they waged a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Dutch.\r\n\r\nIn 1774 the Scottish-Dutch soldier John Gabriel Stedman witnessed the brutal oppression of slaves during a campaign against the maroons, which he described in his <i>Narrative of a Five Years Expedition Against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam</i>. The book, which included illustrations by William Blake, was adopted by those who advocated the abolition of the slave trade, though Stedman was thought to support reform rather than abolition.\r\n\r\nStedman’s account describes the colony’s dependence on black soldiers, or ‘rangers’, selected from the slave population and offered their freedom in exchange for their help in crushing the maroons. Stedman’s respect for the bravery of these soldiers is reflected in Blake’s image.","physicalDescription":"Print depicts a black soldier, or 'ranger', wearing blue knee-length leggings and a red bandana, with a pouch and sword strung around his chest and holding a pipe in his right hand and a long gun in his left. In the background to the right two other 'rangers' with long guns, to the left trees and palms.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Blake, William","id":"A3132"},"association":{"text":"printmaker","id":"AAT25164"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper (fiber product)","id":"AAT14109"},{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"}],"techniques":[{"text":"etching (printing process)","id":"AAT53241"},{"text":"engraving (printing process)","id":"AAT53225"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Etching and engraving on paper","categories":[{"text":"Black History","id":"THES48989"},{"text":"Slavery & Abolitionism","id":"THES49008"},{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Caribbean","id":"THES286921"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2007BM3222"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF (VA)","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"TOPIC","shelf":"4","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"print","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1796","earliest":"1796-01-01","latest":"1796-12-31"},"association":{"text":"published","id":"x30682"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"E.1215A-1886","id":"O127411"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215B-1886","id":"O127408"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215C-1886","id":"O127406"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215D-1886","id":"O127404"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215E-1886","id":"O127399"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215F-1886","id":"O127397"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215H-1886","id":"O127392"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215I-1886","id":"O127391"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215J-1886","id":"O127389"},"association":"Set"},{"object":{"text":"E.1215K-1886","id":"O127387"},"association":"Set"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"19.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"14.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Bottom right:\r\nBlake Sculpt.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"NB: The term \"negro\" was used historically to describe people of black African heritage but, since the 1960s, has fallen from usage and, increasingly, is considered offensive. The term is repeated here in its original historical context.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"'A Coromantyn Free Negro, or Ranger, armed', illustration to the publication<i> Narrative of Five Years Expedition Against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam</i> by Gabriel Stedman, etching and engraving by William Blake, London, 1796","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"guerrilla","id":"x38334"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.1215G-1886"],"accessionNumberNum":"1215","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1886,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-06","recordCreationDate":"2006-08-24","availableToBook":false}}