BESPOKE: PORTRAIT OF A BOXER CIRCA 1810

Harlem Bespoke:  Morris-Jumel Mansion will be have a reenactment of the famous fight feature Tom Molineaux and we decided to do some research on the trailblazing boxer who fought his way out of a life of slavery.  Born in 1784, Molineaux was born on a plantation in Virginia but apparently a boxing bet set him free to move to New York were he became known as the Champion of America in the sport after a string of victories.  More fame and fortune would follow after relocating to the United Kingdom in 1809 where he would eventually fight Tom Cribb in one of the most historic battles in early boxing history.

Many of the drawings of the epic fight show rather grotesque caricatures of the two men but we did find one portrait of Tom Molineaux which is probably the most accurate.  A notable engraver named John Young created the above image of the African-American Boxer in 1910 and the artist who was the official royal engraver to the Prince of Wales would have been one of the best at the time to capture a likeness of the athlete.  Note that the actual print found at The National Portrait Gallery has not been tinted so we added a little color to bring everything to life.  For more on the reenactment of this famous fight check out our original post:  LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2018