Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century Charleston
On July 5, 1770, South Carolina raised its first public sculpture. Representing the English statesman William Pitt the Elder in the mode of a classical orator, the marble statue stood on a pedestal at the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets, in Charleston’s historic Civic Square. This essay re...
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European Association for American Studies
2020-01-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15410 |
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| author | Wendy Bellion |
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| author_sort | Wendy Bellion |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | On July 5, 1770, South Carolina raised its first public sculpture. Representing the English statesman William Pitt the Elder in the mode of a classical orator, the marble statue stood on a pedestal at the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets, in Charleston’s historic Civic Square. This essay reconstructs the significance of its location and its competing meanings within the colonial slave city. It examines how the statue functioned to reflect the racial politics of elite Charlestonians while illuminating the cultures of surveillance, discipline, and display that linked black and white bodies. At the symbolic center of the urban landscape, the figure of Pitt exposed the implicated nature of neoclassical sculpture and transatlantic slavery. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-013e72e237a94b4e9e89667cec5405a1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-013e72e237a94b4e9e89667cec5405a12025-01-06T09:09:54ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362020-01-0114410.4000/ejas.15410Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century CharlestonWendy BellionOn July 5, 1770, South Carolina raised its first public sculpture. Representing the English statesman William Pitt the Elder in the mode of a classical orator, the marble statue stood on a pedestal at the intersection of Meeting and Broad Streets, in Charleston’s historic Civic Square. This essay reconstructs the significance of its location and its competing meanings within the colonial slave city. It examines how the statue functioned to reflect the racial politics of elite Charlestonians while illuminating the cultures of surveillance, discipline, and display that linked black and white bodies. At the symbolic center of the urban landscape, the figure of Pitt exposed the implicated nature of neoclassical sculpture and transatlantic slavery.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15410statue; sculpture; neoclassicism; slavery; enslaved; race; Charleston; South Carolina; Civic Square; London; colonial; empire; place; location; site-specificity; built environment; William Pitt the Elder; Joseph Wilton; spectacle; spectator; Atlantic worl |
| spellingShingle | Wendy Bellion Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century Charleston European Journal of American Studies statue; sculpture; neoclassicism; slavery; enslaved; race; Charleston; South Carolina; Civic Square; London; colonial; empire; place; location; site-specificity; built environment; William Pitt the Elder; Joseph Wilton; spectacle; spectator; Atlantic worl |
| title | Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century Charleston |
| title_full | Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century Charleston |
| title_fullStr | Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century Charleston |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century Charleston |
| title_short | Pitt on a Pedestal: Sculpture and Slavery in Late-Eighteenth-Century Charleston |
| title_sort | pitt on a pedestal sculpture and slavery in late eighteenth century charleston |
| topic | statue; sculpture; neoclassicism; slavery; enslaved; race; Charleston; South Carolina; Civic Square; London; colonial; empire; place; location; site-specificity; built environment; William Pitt the Elder; Joseph Wilton; spectacle; spectator; Atlantic worl |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/15410 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wendybellion pittonapedestalsculptureandslaveryinlateeighteenthcenturycharleston |