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2000-91, Print
William Ansah Sessarakoo
2000-91, Print

William Ansah Sessarakoo

Date1749
Engraver John Faber Jr. (1684 - 1756)
After work by Gabriel Mathias (1719 - 1804)
OriginEngland, London
MediumMezzotint on laid paper
DimensionsOverall: 13 × 8 15/16in. (33 × 22.7cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2000-91
DescriptionText along bottom reads: "William Ansah Sessarakoo' Son of John Bannishee Corrantee Ohinnee of/Anamaboe and of Eukobah Daughter of Ansah Sessarakoo King of Aquamboo &/Niece to Quishadoo King of Akroan. He was Sold at Barbadoes as a Slave in y.e Year 1744/Redeem'd at the Earnest Request of his Father in the Year 1748, and brought to England./This plate is most Humbly Inscrib'd to the Right Hon.ble the Earl of Hallifax, First Lord Commissioner/for Trade & Plantations, and one of his Majesty's most Hon.ble Privy Council, by his most obedient & most hum. Serv.t./ Gabriel Mathias/Price 1.s.6.p"
Label TextWilliam Ansah Sessarakoo, a prominent Fante man, became a celebrity known for his wrongful enslavement and diplomatic visit to England. He was from the port city of Annamaboe, Ghana where his father John Corrantee held a high position in the local government and served as a cultural intermediary between African merchants on the interior and European slave traders on the coast. In an effort to strengthen his position with Europeans, Corrantee sent one of his sons to be educated in France and his other son, William to study in England 1744. En route, Sessarakoo boarded a slave ship which took him to Barbados, however when the captain died, no one remained to verify his identity or legal status. He remained in Barbados where he was enslaved.

His father petitioned European officials to investigate his son's whereabouts for several years. Finally, a ship was sent to Barbados to find him. After four years, Sessarakoo finally sailed to England. When he arrived, he was the subject of public interest and was given the nickname "the prince of Annamaboe." His story of enslavement influenced literature, and art, theater.

Lower margin reads:
"William Ansah Sessarakoo' Son of John Bannishee Corrantee Ohinnee of Anamaboe and of Eukobah Daughter of Ansah Sessarakoo King of Aquamboo & Niece to Quishadoo King of Akroan. He was Sold at Barbadoes as a Slave in y.e Year 1744 Redeem'd at the Earnest Request of his Father in the Year 1748, and brought to England This plate is most Humbly Inscrib'd to the Right Hon.ble the Earl of Hallifax, First Lord Commissioner for Trade & Plantations, and one of his Majesty's most Hon.ble Privy Council, by his most obedient & most hum. Serv.t. Gabriel Mathias Price 1.s.6.p"
Markings"G Mathias Pinx.t" "J Faber fecit 1749".