HM Brig BLACK JOKE capturing the slave ship EL ALMIRANTE

ArtistAttributed to William John Huggins (1781-1845)

Date1829

Object number00027384

NameDrawing

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsMount: 245 x 285 mm
Sight: 160 x 202 mm
Overall: 268 x 305 x 13 mm, 0.65 kg
Image: 144 x 190 mm
Display Dimensions: 268 x 305 x 13 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Vaughan Evans

Terms

DescriptionPencil sketch of HM Brig the BLACK JOKE capturing the slave ship EL ALMIRANTE in the Bight of Benin on 1 February 1829. The verso has a hand typed sticker reading 'The BLACK JOKE and EL ADMIRANTE, 1829 William John Huggins, 1829. See pl civ "Adventures by Sea..." Basil Lubbock for reproduction of aquatint by Edward Duncan 1840. HMbrig BLACK JOKE was a tender to HMS SIBYLLE on the west coast of Africa; captured the slaver in Bight of Benin 1 Feb 1829 after 11 hrs running"HistoryAfter the passing of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, the Royal Navy formed the West Africa Squadron (or Preventative Squadron) to intercept slave traders, seize their ships and free their slaves. The Squadron was based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from 1819. The Spanish brig EL ALMIRANTE, carrying 466 slaves from Africa, was on its way to Havana. It was spotted and pursued by HM BLACK JOKE, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Downes, for an estimated 31 hours before being captured.