Pair of andirons

Slavery is usually associated with the southern colonies, but early New England had many slaves as well. These andirons descended in the family of Rowland Robinson, who owned a plantation in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, on Narragansett Bay. According to family tradition, these andirons were made by a slave who had been trained as a blacksmith. Both functional and sculptural, the andirons represent the vast body of American art made by slaves, whose names and histories are not well documented.