This is an extraordinary painting, which has been bought for the National Army Museum in London.
Below is their description of it and their explanation of why it is so important. The Museum is broadening its collection to reflect soldiers from across the British Empire and the Commonwealth, down the years.
Martin
Depictions of Black soldiers at the time of the Napoleonic Wars are extremely rare.
This portrait shows a Black soldier in a bandsman’s uniform wearing the Waterloo Medal, an honour awarded to every man who took part in the battle in 1815 regardless of rank. The bandsman is holding a cymbal and is wearing a fur pelisse, suggesting that he was perhaps a percussionist in a cavalry regiment.
Only nine Black soldiers are known to have received the Waterloo Medal, and research by the National Army Museum suggests Thomas James is the most likely subject of this portrait.
Born in Montserrat in 1789, James served with the 18th Light Dragoons and was severely wounded at Waterloo while defending officers’ baggage from looters. James continued to serve for a few years after the battle before leaving the service and receiving his military pension.
Recently the portrait has been attributed to Thomas Phillips, a prominent society painter of the time. It may have been commissioned by a senior officer as a show of gratitude and is likely to have been displayed in an officers’ mess. It now helps to fill a significant gap in the National Army Museum collection by increasing awareness of the diverse communities that have served in the British Army from the time of Waterloo up until the present day.
Martin Plaut 