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First Portrait of Roma of Barbados
Sculptor: Epstein, Jacob
Roma is shown with her hair in bunches on either side of her head, her head tilted slightly upwards, her eyes raised.
no. 1 of an edition of up to 6 (two other casts known)
Given by Mr J. Howard Bliss
Height: 35.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1945) by Bliss, J. Howard
20th Century, second quarter#
1930s
George V
Production date:
AD 1932
Epstein made several portraits of Black women in the 1920s and 1930s, including two of this sitter. Although Epstein calls her ‘Roma of Barbados’, Roma was born in West Ham, in 1905 to a Black Caribbean father and white mother. In the 1939 census, she described herself as a ‘film and stage artist’. In 1933, Epstein made a second portrait of Roma, which includes her upper torso. The proudly-held head and wide-eyed, slightly dreamy gaze imbue this first study with great dignity, serenity, and timelessness. The bust-length portrait of Roma made the following year is arguably less successful because the head is more generalised, and its impact is diluted by an unconvincing torso, which appears unfinished.
Casting (process) : Bronze, cast
Accession number: M.1-1945
Primary reference Number: 12400
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_1_1945
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "First Portrait of Roma of Barbados" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/12400 Accessed: 2024-11-02 14:28:38
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/12400
|title=First Portrait of Roma of Barbados
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-02 14:28:38|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-12400
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa29/M_1_1945_4_dc1.jpg"
alt="First Portrait of Roma of Barbados"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">First Portrait of Roma of Barbados</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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