Excerpt from the Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies

Darlene Hines, ISA CAPP wrote an article entitled The Enslaved African American Artisan: Contributions to the Decorative Arts.

Darlene Hines, ISA CAPP, is president of Nostalgia Antique Appraisal Services, in the Detroit Area. She is an Executive member of the International Soceity of Appraisers (ISA) Board of Directors. Mrs. Hines is a member of the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Committee of African American Arts, the Visiting Committee of European and Decorative Arts, and member of the “7 Square Forum” for the promotion of the study of Appraising and Decorative Arts of minorities. Mrs. Hines holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Education and Management with studies toward a Doctorate Degree in Administration and Curriculum Development.

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From the article:

The African American Artisan’s career in decorative arts is little known to the general public. This article seeks to correct the misconcep-tion that the decorative arts are a less characteristic mode of expression for the African American. Although the interpretive arts, such as music, dance, drama, and poetry have been viewed as the African American’s special talent, we fail to realize that the dominant arts in the African homeland were the decorative and craft arts. These skills involve every skill in the category of the European fine arts. The Western world knows today that the African American was a master artist in the idioms of his original African culture of decoration and design.

A study of the African American artisan begins with the first Afri-cans brought to America through forced migration as indentured servants to Jamestown, Virginia in the 1619. Consequently, history reveals that Africans took part in the Spanish expeditions of Ponce de Leon, Narvaez, and Coronado as early as the 1520’s. Nevertheless, the events of 1619 are the foundation used in this article relating to the origins of African American artisans in the United States. Indentured servants were laborers who were under contract, or indenture, to work for another person for a specific time. When the contract expired, the laborer was free. Africans brought to the colonies in later years were bought and sold as slaves. Unlike the indentured, slaves were laborers who had no contract or rights and had to work for their owners for their entire lives. These enslaved Africans joined in the work of building our nation, a work which demanded strenuous mental and physical capabilities.

There are many unanswered questions that need to be researched and these questions have prompted my burning desire to learn more of the contributions of the enslaved and free African American artisans (craftsman) and their impact on furniture making and the decorative arts. W. E. B. DuBois wrote “What had been the experience of the members of this group, so rapidly increasing by birth and by activities of slave-catcher and slave-trader? Had there been anything in the African’s life which would render the Negroes capable of taking a part in the building of homes, the acquiring of wealth, the developing of the new land, the building of the nation? Is there any evidence of mechanical skills among the African natives?” (The Atlanta University Publications, New York: Aro Press and the New York Times, 1969, originally 1902), pp.24-27.

A look into the culture of African life may help us to answer these questions. To understand the factors leading to the skills of the enslaved African American artisan, it is necessary to understand the historical background of the subject. Research indicates that the skills of these enslaved laborers were not created in the American colonies; such skills were identified on the slave ship manifest. Therefore we can safely assume that African American craftsmanship, had it’s inception in the continent of Africa. Blacks are credited as being the first to fashion bone and ivory, and engage in iron, wood, and gold.