Never Forget

Thank you to Benjamin J. Dineen III and Dennis C. Hull for the generous donation of this work.

In "The Penitential Tyrant; or, slave trader reformed" by Thomas Branagan (New York, 1807), an abolitionist book, an illustration similar to the masks in this art work is captioned, “A front and profile view of an African’s head, with the mouth-piece and necklace, the hooks round which are placed to prevent an escapee when pursued in the woods, and to hinder them from laying down the head to procure rest. [There] is a flat iron which goes into the mouth, and so effectually keeps down the tongue, that nothing can be swallowed, not even the saliva, a passage for which is made through holes in the mouth-plate.” (p. 271).