The Old Plantation

The Old Plantation is an American folk art watercolor that was likely painted in the late 18th century on a South Carolina plantation. The painting depicts African American slaves between two small outbuildings of a plantation on a river bend. The Old Plantation is the only known painting of its era that depicts African Americans by themselves, concerned only with each other, though its central activity remains obscure. Some authorities have spec... more

The Old Plantation is an American folk art watercolor that was likely painted in the late 18th century on a South Carolina plantation. The painting depicts African American slaves between two small outbuildings of a plantation on a river bend. The Old Plantation is the only known painting of its era that depicts African Americans by themselves, concerned only with each other, though its central activity remains obscure. Some authorities have speculated that the painting depicts a marriage ceremony, with the attendant tradition of jumping the broom. Other scholars have suggested that the subjects are performing a secular dance: the Yoruba of Nigeria traditionally danced barefoot with sticks and scarves, and the headdresses pictured are of West African and perhaps distinctly Yoruban origin. The painting features two musicians, one of whom is playing a stringed instrument that resembles a Yoruba molo; the body of this instrument seems to be a hollow gourd. The molo is a precursor to the... less