|This document shows the examination of Saartjie Baartman in the
Court of King's Bench. Coming from the Dutch-colonised southern
tip of Africa, she gave her evidence through an interpreter. She said
that she had no complaints about being exhibited and 'was perfectly
happy with her present situation'. How far she was coerced into
making this statement is uncertain. The case collapsed as a result
of her deposition.
Saartjie Baartman was ridiculed by the cartoonist George Cruikshank,
whose caricaturisation of her exaggerated and distorted the black
female form, helping to fuel the racist ideology of the period.
KB 1/36/4, f. 117 (27 Nov 1810)