Sarotti Moor Sculpture

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Sarotti Moor Sculpture

Polyresin sculpture depicting a dark-skinned boy carrying a golden coloured tray in line with the symbolic imagery typical of Blackamoor figures. The figure is dressed ornately from head-to-toe with vibrant colours and an outfit that seems inspired by Moorish culture and stylings. He wears a bright blue coat with a white buttoned-up shirt, long white gloves, and tailcoats that extend out behind him in a manner which implies the figure is moving forward rapidly. The figure also wears red haram pants decorated with brown/golden stars which match his Moorish shoes ('Balgha') which are painted with the same colour as the tray and the golden stars. The figure is crowned with a blue, red, and golden turban which is decorated with a golden plate at the front with the letter "S" (Sarotti-Mohr) and a crest of feathers emerging over the top of this. The entire figure is fixed upon a larger base painted white with black flanks - on the underside of the base is written "€85" in pencil. Chocolate would have been placed on the tray of the statue as a form of advertising.

Sarotti-Mohr (Julius Gipkens)

Documenta 2022

The Black Archives

Sculpture

Black Child, Young Boy, Moorish Boy

Suit, Shirt, Top-Hat, Trousers, Shoes, Tray, Turban, Gloves

c.1930's?

11.5x18x27

Germany

Berlin

Caricature, Advertising, Chocolate, Moors, Orientalism, Statue, Servant

Sarotti-Mohr

Sarotti-Mohr

Richard Weaver

https://www.derwesten.de/panorama/riesen-zoff-um-den-sarotti-mohr-darf-er-nicht-mehr-so-heissen-id216884397.html ; https://www.jstor.org/stable/26533653?seq=1 ; https://www.catawiki.com/l/14373299-advertising-statue-for-sarotti-chocolate-from-1930