Francis Spriggs, Prisoner Eating Candles, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1886 - 1891

This small chromolithograph of Francis Spriggs, prisoner eating candles, was produced by Allen & Ginter, a cigarette company, as part of their "Pirates of the Spanish Main" series. These cards were designed to be collected, traded, and pasted into albums, reflecting a late 19th-century fascination with adventure and exoticism. But let’s not be too seduced by the thrill of piracy. The image constructs a narrative of punishment, in which the pirate Francis Spriggs is both a spectacle and a warning. The act of forcing someone to eat candles as punishment speaks to the harsh realities of power and control in the colonial context, and the very real violence of early capitalist expansion. Further research would be required to determine the social impact and reception of these images at the time. But we can say with confidence that the image is staged for the purposes of sales and entertainment.