William Ansah Sessarakoo

Date1749

Engraver John Faber Jr. (1684 - 1756)

After work by Gabriel Mathias (1719 - 1804)

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint engraving 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 Anamaboe, Ghana where his father John Currentee (Eno Baisie Kurentsi) was a powerful Fante diplomat and slave trader (known as a caboceer). He served as a 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 Ansah 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 English officials to return his son in return for access to the port and local support. Finally, William Ansah was found and a ship was sent to Barbados to find him. After four years, he 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. After his return home, his father made him change out of his European clothing before celebrations of his returned could commence.

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".
ProvenanceBefore 2000, Graham Arader III (Philadelphia, PA); 2000-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).