Badge, Stoke-on-Trent, 2022
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
2022
Badge, Stoke-on-Trent, 2022 is an object recorded by Victoria and Albert Museum, dated 2022. The museum's brief description reads: Badge, 'I Am a Man and a Brother' made by World of Wedgwood, based on a design by Amy Sproston, Stoke-on-Trent, 2022.
Museum description: Pin badge depicting a raised black fist clutching an olive branch on a green background with bottle kilns and smoke, text reads: I AM A MAN AND A BROTHER. The museum record gives material recorded as metal; measurements Diameter 32 mm; Depth 4 mm; place associated: Stoke-on-Trent. These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
In 2021, the V&A Wedgwood Collection embarked on an Art Fund supported research project to explore the complex history of Wedgwood’s anti-slavery medallion in the context of contemporary anti-racist activism. First produced in 1787, the historic medallion took its design from the seal for the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, showing a kneeling Black man in chains asking, 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?'. As a forerunner to the protest badge, Wedgwood freely distributed these medallions to raise awareness of the cause for abolition in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Following a week-long workshop led by Grace Barrett, founder of the anti-racism teacher training programme I AM ALLY, and Georgia Haseldine of the V&A Research Institute, students from the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College critically engaged with Josiah Wedgwood’s abolitionist activities and re-imagined a new medallion for the 21st century. Produced as jasper medallions by the Wedgwood factory, the final design by Amy Sproston shows a fist motif clutching an olive branch, a recognisable symbol of protest and peace, emerging out of the iconic Stoke-on-Trent bottle kilns. The text ‘I Am a Man and a Brother’ plays with the wording from the original 1787 medallion, making it an empowering statement rather than a question. Much like the widespread distribution of historic abolitionist imagery, the contemporary design also features on badges, prints and postcards to disseminate this…
Physical characteristics
- Material
- metal
- Dimensions
- Diameter 32 mm; Depth 4 mm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Metal
- Place recorded
- Stoke-on-Trent
Identification
- Museum object name
- Badge
- Museum object number
- WE.1-2022
- Museum system number
- O1766589
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm materials, dimensions, maker and wider type against the museum record and a specialist reference.