Title
Sugar Bowl
Label
Sugar Bowl
Made in England, 1825-1830
Made of Bone China
Height 4.63"
On Loan from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
This sugar bowl proudly boasts that it contains East India Sugar not made By Slaves. It is a product of the Free Produce Movement, an effort to encourage consumers to boycott slave-made goods and instead purchase products made by free labor. An early example of consumer activism, these abolitionists pioneered the “buy-cott” that encouraged the labeling and purchase of ethically produced products.[xiv]
Wendell, the son of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, described the difficulties the movement faced when he wrote of his family’s sugar bowl:
“… whose rim bore the delusive legend, - EAST INDIA SUGAR, NOT MADE BY SLAVES. Alas! They had forgotten to send the sugar to make good the profession, and we ate from the pretty bowl whatever Cuban or Louisianian sweetness a large household and moderate income could compromise upon.”[xv]
Made in England, 1825-1830
Made of Bone China
Height 4.63"
On Loan from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
This sugar bowl proudly boasts that it contains East India Sugar not made By Slaves. It is a product of the Free Produce Movement, an effort to encourage consumers to boycott slave-made goods and instead purchase products made by free labor. An early example of consumer activism, these abolitionists pioneered the “buy-cott” that encouraged the labeling and purchase of ethically produced products.[xiv]
Wendell, the son of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, described the difficulties the movement faced when he wrote of his family’s sugar bowl:
“… whose rim bore the delusive legend, - EAST INDIA SUGAR, NOT MADE BY SLAVES. Alas! They had forgotten to send the sugar to make good the profession, and we ate from the pretty bowl whatever Cuban or Louisianian sweetness a large household and moderate income could compromise upon.”[xv]
Credit Line
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. John C. Austin, Phyllis M. Carstens, Mrs. Joyce Longworth, Ann Winter Odette, John F. Orman, Jr., Ms. Joan M. Ploetz, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Potterfield, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Prioleau, Joan N. Woodhouse, the Dwight P. and Ann-Elisa W. Black Fund, and the John R. and Carolyn J. Maness Family Foundation.Made of
Citation
“Sugar Bowl,” Museums at Washington and Lee University: Online Exhibits, accessed May 2, 2024, https://exhibits-museums.omeka.wlu.edu/items/show/29.