Granville Sharp & his family portrait
The Sharp Family portrait, Jonah Zoffany, 1781
This the Sharp Family portrait, currently on display at the National Gallery, the work of German artist Jonah Zoffany in 1781'.
This remarkable portrait is not just a celebration of the strong bond of the Sharp family who were leading slavery abolitionists but also a rare example of leisurely entertainment enjoyed by a well-to-do middle class family in the late 1700s,.
The painting portrays the Sharp siblings with their extended relatives. Granville S. can be seen just left of centre above the dog in the foreground, whilst William S. who commissioned the portrait waves his hat above the group.
The scene depicts one of the family’s outings on the River Thames aboard William’s barge, in which singing and music played a central role. To the left in the background you can see All Saints Church Fulham's tower, the local parish in Fulham were William lived.
Granville S. is considered by many the father of the Slavery Abolitionist movement in England in the late Georgian period. A staunch Protestant he campaigned extensively for many social causes and was indefatigable autodidact, teaching himself ancient Greek to aid his Bible studies and studying extensively English law whilst engaged in litigations in the courts against slave owners. He died at Fulham House on 6 July 1813, the home of his older brother and fellow abolitionist William, a former surgeon to George III. The two brothers and a sister are all buried in All Saint’s Church burial ground.
Granville Sharp lead the Society for Effecting to Abolition of the Slave Trade founded in 1787. He was involved in many of the early cases of black slaves in London refusing to return to the colonies with their masters. After early victories in the courts he was involved in the founding of the Sierra Leone Company to transport freed black slaves to the ‘Province of Freedom’ colony in Sierra Leone.
Zoffany’s composition was cleverly thought out It’s not easy to cram 15 people and a dog into a painting. This type of portrait is known as a conversation piece, a genre which arose in the 1700s amongst the middle class.
If you want to learn more about this remarkable man and his achievements, join me on my next Putney & Fulham Heritage Walk
Granville Sharp
