An enslaved ancestor’s handmade objects survive as living heirlooms in the slaveholder family’s house.

Evidence

I was suddenly filled with pride and amazement: I was sitting in a chair hand-carved by my enslaved ancestor; it was as if he were embracing me. I felt so blessed to have the opportunity to sit on something that my ancestor made. This was yet another moment where I had to pause and give thanks for the many miracles, signs, and wonders that had been revealed to me. I had Renty Taylor Thompson’s walking stick, the only ancestral heirloom I had ever imagined until this moment: my body touching something that my ancestor’s hands had made 170 years ago. There was something so poetic about how this piece of furniture could lift and support me. — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 471

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly bears on the ‘On Sacrifice’ concern with how descendant families encounter the material traces of ancestor labor — extends to furniture rather than bodies.
• SHARE: For a friend doing material-culture or craft history work.