African Slave Making a Pilgrimage to see William Wilberforce, 1993 (oak)

Oak sculpture made by the sculptor Samuel Samei Marco from Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is carved in English oak and depicts a freed African slave making a pilgrimage to see William Wilberforce. The man carries a gift of an ivory horn on his back. He looks up with broken shackles on his wrists with the hands of Wilberforce helping him. It was given to the city of Hull by Marco as a gift. The reverse has the carved inscription, 'African Slave Making a Pilgrimage to see William Wilberforce A.Marco Touch Sierra Leone West Africa 4/93'. William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade