333 images (or so)

slavery ↘↖

Jean-Leon Gerome, 1886, Selling Slaves in Rome Whew.  That’s enough slaves-and-auctions for now, huh? I’m gonna try to avoid themed posts for awhile, it’s exhausting.

Jean-Leon Gerome, 1886, Selling Slaves in Rome

Whew.  That’s enough slaves-and-auctions for now, huh?

I’m gonna try to avoid themed posts for awhile, it’s exhausting.

24 June 2010 • butt naked sub female sub Mf auction sale slave slavery gerome late 1800s

The “slave auction” scene from The Sheik, transmuted into a gambling scene.

The movie was enormously successful with women, but the story had been sliced up by the censors in some revealing ways.  First, the rape was gone, and a lot of the sheik’s brutality is gone, too.  Secondly, in order to get around anti-miscegenation laws, the sheik turns out to be secretly white(!)  Once again, the racial dynamics of Orientalism mutate to satisfy the audiences.  It got banned anyway, in some jurisdictions, but it was still popular enough that Orientalist tropes completely jumped the shark into the realm of subversion material.  

American men absolutely hated this movie, and especially hated Valentino.  It probably served as part of the death knell for soft media in kink—and in men’s fashion more generally.  Guys in 1921 did not want to vicariously imagine themselves wearing flowing linen robes and lots of jewelry….even if that meant having Agnes Ayers at their mercy.

23 June 2010 • orientalism video 1920s slave slavery sale gambling soft media Mf censorship race rape

Bondage, 1890s, Ernest Normand ….and here’s where these fantasy slaves are going.  Maybe it’s ancient Egypt, or Babylon, or just a fairy-tale palace.  Anyway, it looks pretty nice, huh? Normand’s wife, Henrietta Rae, was also an accomplished Orientalist painter, also working on voluptuous nudes.  They took a lot of flack for their choice of themes—a jealous rival trashed one of Henrietta’s paintings, and she in turn lit his hat on fire.  But this opulent-happy-slavery-fantasy was one that had a strong grip on BDSM imagery.

Bondage, 1890s, Ernest Normand

….and here’s where these fantasy slaves are going.  Maybe it’s ancient Egypt, or Babylon, or just a fairy-tale palace.  Anyway, it looks pretty nice, huh?

Normand’s wife, Henrietta Rae, was also an accomplished Orientalist painter, also working on voluptuous nudes.  They took a lot of flack for their choice of themes—a jealous rival trashed one of Henrietta’s paintings, and she in turn lit his hat on fire.  But this opulent-happy-slavery-fantasy was one that had a strong grip on BDSM imagery.

21 June 2010 • co-submission slave slavery orientalism Ernest normand nude naked sub female sub harem architecture redhead late 1800s painting

Ernest Normand, 1894, The White Slave And now we have transitioned to a complete D/s fantasy.  The (white) girl has been sold into an Arabian-Nights otherworld, and she is displaying herself for her (non-white) masters.  She is still shy, of course, but the emotion being invoked here is not horror or political critique, but raw sensuality: a (captive) princess fantasy.

Ernest Normand, 1894, The White Slave

And now we have transitioned to a complete D/s fantasy.  The (white) girl has been sold into an Arabian-Nights otherworld, and she is displaying herself for her (non-white) masters.  She is still shy, of course, but the emotion being invoked here is not horror or political critique, but raw sensuality: a (captive) princess fantasy.

21 June 2010 • Mf female sub naked white slavery slave slavery Orientalism late 1800s CMNF hierarchy redhead painting harem

Slave Market, Gustave Boulanger, 1888 Boulanger was a friend of Gerome’s—I think was his last painting, and it is definitely a tribute (or critique?) of the one below.  Everything about it oozes verisimilitude.  I love the tent, especially, with old tarps tossed up on top.  And I love the bored look of the boy towards the left, and the obvious fact that they’ve been here all morning with almost no customers.  It tells a story, but the story isn’t very sexy.

Slave Market, Gustave Boulanger, 1888

Boulanger was a friend of Gerome’s—I think was his last painting, and it is definitely a tribute (or critique?) of the one below.  Everything about it oozes verisimilitude.  I love the tent, especially, with old tarps tossed up on top.  And I love the bored look of the boy towards the left, and the obvious fact that they’ve been here all morning with almost no customers.  It tells a story, but the story isn’t very sexy.

21 June 2010 • Roman setting female sub half-naked late 1800s male sub orientalism painting sale slave slavery signage

Slave Auction, Jean-Leon Gerome, 1880s. Soon, Gerome turned to even more fantastic settings and more erotic portrayals.  Here we are in ancient Rome.  All the slaves on display are white girls, stripped naked, and they’re obviously much-sought-after and apprehensive about it.  The girl crouching on the right looks directly at you, the viewer, as if she hopes you’ll buy her.  But still there are elements of historical realism. 

Slave Auction, Jean-Leon Gerome, 1880s.

Soon, Gerome turned to even more fantastic settings and more erotic portrayals.  Here we are in ancient Rome.  All the slaves on display are white girls, stripped naked, and they’re obviously much-sought-after and apprehensive about it.  The girl crouching on the right looks directly at you, the viewer, as if she hopes you’ll buy her.  But still there are elements of historical realism. 

21 June 2010 • Gerome orientalism roman setting late 1800s painting slave slavery auction sale Mf female sub CMNF dejected anticipation

The Slave Market, 1867, Jean-Leon Gerome Gerome travelled to Constantinople in 1853, when he was 29.  He was already a prolific painter, and he soon became one of the most prolific and influential Orientalist artists. This painting, which we’ll come back to later on, is a step away from the realism of Roberts’ picture.  It’s designed for voyeuristic appeal, and the D/s relations are foregrounded, whereas Robert’s slaves (and dealers) look slightly bored.

The Slave Market, 1867, Jean-Leon Gerome

Gerome travelled to Constantinople in 1853, when he was 29.  He was already a prolific painter, and he soon became one of the most prolific and influential Orientalist artists.

This painting, which we’ll come back to later on, is a step away from the realism of Roberts’ picture.  It’s designed for voyeuristic appeal, and the D/s relations are foregrounded, whereas Robert’s slaves (and dealers) look slightly bored.

21 June 2010 • slave slavery sale Orientalism Gerome late 1800s Mf female sub naked sub CMNF shaved

David Roberts, 1846, A Slave Market in Cairo Orientalist artists flocked to the Middle East to find exotic subject material.  This lithograph is from 1846—Roberts could have far more conveniently gone to Virginia and painted a slave market there.  But that wouldn’t be exotic, right? All the same, this looks like a very realistic portrayal.

David Roberts, 1846, A Slave Market in Cairo

Orientalist artists flocked to the Middle East to find exotic subject material.  This lithograph is from 1846—Roberts could have far more conveniently gone to Virginia and painted a slave market there.  But that wouldn’t be exotic, right?

All the same, this looks like a very realistic portrayal.

21 June 2010 • lithograph painting early 1800s orientalism slave slavery Mf clothed sub female sub sale

From an 1891 children’s edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  Emmeline is being sold, and she is….uh….white.  Yup.  Yup.  Looks white to me.  In fact, she is much “whiter,” in skin tone and costume, than the guy who is bidding on her in the foreground. Ooops. The Orientalists went for material that wasn’t quite this obvious of a racial flip-flop. 

From an 1891 children’s edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  Emmeline is being sold, and she is….uh….white.  Yup.  Yup.  Looks white to me.  In fact, she is much “whiter,” in skin tone and costume, than the guy who is bidding on her in the foreground.

Ooops.

The Orientalists went for material that wasn’t quite this obvious of a racial flip-flop. 

20 June 2010 • Mf auction clothed sub female sub late 1800s painting sale slavery white slavery uncle toms cabin

Edwin Long, 1875, The Babylonian Marriage Market Finally, I think the race-reversal of slave images allowed white artists (and audiences) to feel legitimized in handling politically charged images as kink erotica. There’s good evidence for this in the image of slave sales and auctions.  This was a very common visual image in 19th-century abolitionist works, and also in advertisements for and news accounts about slave auctions.  Many Americans in the 19th century must have seen slaves being sold, as did travelers in the Levant or North Africa.   Many orientalist painters fell in love with this image.  (So objectifying!  So poignant!  And there’s always this hint of complicity…)  But the sale of black people to white people was almost never made the subject of erotic art.  Instead, the D/s fantasy it represented was set in the past (as in Long’s famous painting above), or in the Middle East, with white slaves and non-white buyers, or in other ways racially subverted.

Edwin Long, 1875, The Babylonian Marriage Market

Finally, I think the race-reversal of slave images allowed white artists (and audiences) to feel legitimized in handling politically charged images as kink erotica.

There’s good evidence for this in the image of slave sales and auctions.  This was a very common visual image in 19th-century abolitionist works, and also in advertisements for and news accounts about slave auctions.  Many Americans in the 19th century must have seen slaves being sold, as did travelers in the Levant or North Africa.  

Many orientalist painters fell in love with this image.  (So objectifying!  So poignant!  And there’s always this hint of complicity…)  But the sale of black people to white people was almost never made the subject of erotic art.  Instead, the D/s fantasy it represented was set in the past (as in Long’s famous painting above), or in the Middle East, with white slaves and non-white buyers, or in other ways racially subverted.

20 June 2010 • auction sale late 1800s slavery Mf clothed sub female sub hierarchy painting politics