oil on canvas
29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 61 cm)
PROVENANCE

PROVENANCECollection of George J. Arden, New YorkCaptain Paul Cuffee is an important figure in American history and especially African-American history. His father was a freed black slave, and mother an Aquinnah Wampanoag Native American.  Growing up in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, Cuffee was eventually beckoned by the sea.  Eventually he would become a wealthy and influential shipowner and businessman.  A great deal of his life and energy was spent trying to improve the plight of African-Americans in the United States, but also to supporting colonization of African countries such as Sierra Leone with Americans of African descent.