Empire Cafe
The National Museums Scotland has recently acquired pieces from one of the tea sets used at The Empire Café. It has entered the collections as a material record of a moment when the combined forces of activism and scholarship brought this topic to international audiences in the centre of Glasgow – a city with strong links to the history of the slave trade.
Extracts of poetry by Scottish and Caribbean writers run around the cups in gold and black, reflecting the riches created through Scots’ involvement in slavery.
The tea set was crafted by Wedgewood from white porcelain. The teapot carries an interesting mark – an outline of a sailing ship and a book fused together and rendered in gold on its belly. The same mark can be found on the accompanying plate, and on the base of the cups and saucers.
The Empire Café was a space and event dedicated to discussing Scotland’s links with transatlantic slavery during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. It was conceived and co-created by author Louise Welsh and Jude Barber of Collective Architecture.
The logo for The Empire Café was designed by Graphical House.
