Four enslaved people are tending the grounds whilst Ninian Home sits on a bench under tree with his dog. In the middle distance are the enslaved people’s houses made from timber walls and rooves made from ‘cane trash’ (the waste from harvesting the sugarcane). Following the Uprising in Grenada, the buildings at Waltham were valued and the enslaved people’s homes were appraised at £10 each.

The Scottish artist did not show the enslaved men, women, and children hard at work growing and cutting the sugar cane, coffee or cocoa, or sweating it out in dangerous conditions in the on-site sugar factory. The stepped man-made water feature was a diverted river used to transport the cut sugar cane down to the processing factory.

This painting was conserved in 2022 with a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund.