Exhibition Guide

In the colonial South, children of wealthy families often had slave companions, although they are rarely depicted in formal portraiture. Here, John Hesselius paired a lavishly dressed Charles Calvert (1756–1773) with his as yet unidentified—but also resplendently attired—black companion. Charles was the son of Benedict and Elizabeth Calvert. As the family scion, he rated an expensive full-length portrait, while his sisters, seen nearby, are portrayed in half-length views. Shoe buckles ablaze, the five-year-old Master Charles dominates the composition. His broad gesture draws attention to a distant landscape punctuated by a steeple, which may recall Maryland’s colonial roots as a refuge for England’s persecuted Roman Catholics. The Calvert family was Catholic until about 1748, when they converted to Anglicanism. Charles’ gesture, then, is left open for interpretation. The subservient pose taken by his companion reflects economically driven change that profoundly altered Maryland’s social structure. Eager for lucrative cash crops, Maryland landowners adopted the plantation system to cultivate tobacco. In 1663, a century before Hesselius painted this portrait, Marylanders passed a law enslaving Africans and their children for life. As the backbone of Maryland’s labor force, slaves cleared forests, tended fields, and harvested and processed tobacco. Africans also worked as domestic servants, doing everything from cooking to caring for children, and even, as in this picture, serving as their playmates.