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Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
(SLAVERY--AFRICA.) Pair of cartes-de-visite of two boys rescued from slave traders off Africa in 1888. Albumen prints, 3½ x 2 inches, on original photographer's mounts (one by the EOS Photographic Company of Bombay, the other by L. Berenger of Port-Louis on the French island of Mauritius); minimal wear; one captioned in manuscript on verso. No place, [1888]
In 1888, 204 Oromo children from the interior of Ethiopia were captured into slavery, brought to the coast, and loaded into three ships for delivery to Arabia. The ships were intercepted by the British naval vessel H.M.S. Osprey, which rescued them after a pitched battle. 64 of the rescued passengers were relocated to a missionary institution in South Africa, a story told in a 2018 book by Sandra Rowoldt Shell, "Children of Hope: The Odyssey of the Oromo Slaves from Ethiopia to South Africa."
The two children in these photos had a different fate--they were apparently pressed into duty as cabin boys in the Royal Navy. One of these photographs is captioned in manuscript "Slave boys captured by H.M.S. Osprey off Res-el-Haad, East Coast of Africa."
