A Mother with her Son and a Pony, c. 1775.

Source: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.

Dominica

A mother is giving her son instructions, as she points her finger at him he gives her a look of reluctance. Dressed in a high white headdress and a matching shawl, she wears a colorful maternity dress, which exposes a full-length white petticoat with embroidered flowers. She is adorned in an impressive array of jewelry made of pearls or diamonds. Her son wears typical green jockey silks made of cotton. Although the figures depicted are dressed beautifully and regally, they are curiously barefoot. However, it appears that the son is the rightful owner of the pony, and that these are not enslaved individuals. This mother and son appear to live lavishly, without interference from any white people. This is a prime example of Brunias’s affinity of romanticizing the status of black women in the Caribbean.