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Lot Essay
This picture is one of several St. Vincent subjects painted by Brunias for Sir William Young, who ran extensive estates on the island and was one of three commissioners of the island. Brunias provides a rare view from life of the indigenous inhabitants of the West Indies, shortly before they were dispossessed by European settlers and their numbers were reduced by disease. The Caribs (Charaibes), related to the Indian tribes of South America, were first encountered by Columbus in 1492, on his famous voyage to find a new passage to Asia. Columbus recorded the rumour that Caribs 'eat men', beginning a long line of descriptions of Caribs as fierce and cannibalistic.
After decades of warring over the islands of the Lesser Antilles, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (10 February 1763), Britain was given Dominica, St. Vincent and Tobago, while the French gained St. Lucia: 'the Charaibes not being once mentioned in the whole transaction, as if no such people existed' (Edwards, p.391).
Edwards's commentary opposite Milton's engraving of the present picture describes the indigenous people at the time: '[The Charaibes] were in truth reduced to a miserable remnant. - Of the ancient, or, as they were called by the English, Red Charaibes [to distinguish them from the Black Charaibes, mixed-race descendants of Caribs and escaped slaves], not more than a hundred families survived in 1763, and of all their ancient extensive possessions, these poor people retained only a mountainous district in the Island of St. Vincent. (a) See the plate annexed, which contains an accurate delineation of a family of these poor people still existing in this island, under the patronage and protection of Sir William Young' (Edwards, p.391).
Brunias faithfully delineates the Caribs, including their colourful feathered and woven ornaments, red body paint, palm-thatched houses, straight black hair and copper skin, which set them apart both from the black African slaves and the European settlers. Edwards describes them as cunning hunters, polygamous, with complex religious beliefs and bloody initiation ceremonies when boys passed into manhood.
Sir William Young was involved in many negotiations with the Black and Red Caribs, trying to stop them raiding plantations, and encouraging them to allow road building through their land. In 1795 St. Vincent's Black Caribs, encouraged by the French, rose up against the English, killing settlers and burning sugar plantations; the younger Sir William Young lost one of his estates. The Carib War ended in 1797, when over five thousand Caribs (many of whom died on the journey) were deported to the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras.
Today very few pure-blooded 'Red' Caribs still exist in the islands of the West Indies. A few remain on St. Vincent, and a few thousand live on Dominica, where the community is undergoing a cultural revival. Despite all the prophecies of doom, Caribs still survive, and many words from their language - canoe, hammock, barbecue, hurricane, among others - have passed into English.
After decades of warring over the islands of the Lesser Antilles, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (10 February 1763), Britain was given Dominica, St. Vincent and Tobago, while the French gained St. Lucia: 'the Charaibes not being once mentioned in the whole transaction, as if no such people existed' (Edwards, p.391).
Edwards's commentary opposite Milton's engraving of the present picture describes the indigenous people at the time: '[The Charaibes] were in truth reduced to a miserable remnant. - Of the ancient, or, as they were called by the English, Red Charaibes [to distinguish them from the Black Charaibes, mixed-race descendants of Caribs and escaped slaves], not more than a hundred families survived in 1763, and of all their ancient extensive possessions, these poor people retained only a mountainous district in the Island of St. Vincent. (a) See the plate annexed, which contains an accurate delineation of a family of these poor people still existing in this island, under the patronage and protection of Sir William Young' (Edwards, p.391).
Brunias faithfully delineates the Caribs, including their colourful feathered and woven ornaments, red body paint, palm-thatched houses, straight black hair and copper skin, which set them apart both from the black African slaves and the European settlers. Edwards describes them as cunning hunters, polygamous, with complex religious beliefs and bloody initiation ceremonies when boys passed into manhood.
Sir William Young was involved in many negotiations with the Black and Red Caribs, trying to stop them raiding plantations, and encouraging them to allow road building through their land. In 1795 St. Vincent's Black Caribs, encouraged by the French, rose up against the English, killing settlers and burning sugar plantations; the younger Sir William Young lost one of his estates. The Carib War ended in 1797, when over five thousand Caribs (many of whom died on the journey) were deported to the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras.
Today very few pure-blooded 'Red' Caribs still exist in the islands of the West Indies. A few remain on St. Vincent, and a few thousand live on Dominica, where the community is undergoing a cultural revival. Despite all the prophecies of doom, Caribs still survive, and many words from their language - canoe, hammock, barbecue, hurricane, among others - have passed into English.