‘The Keeper of All The Secrets’ at The Queen’s House, London

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A tea service with teapot and cups with prints of collages of Caribbean market women and botanicals

New Display, Book & Events

We are delighted to announce the acquisition and display of contemporary artist Jacqueline Bishop’s The Keeper of All The Secrets at London’s historic Queen’s House from 15 February 2025. This project has been developed in partnership with Royal Museums Greenwich, as part of Culture&’s Time, Space and Empire programme.

Bishop’s powerful and groundbreaking ceramic work engages with the artist’s Jamaican heritage, the traditional Caribbean figure of the market woman and the history of women using plants to control their own bodies to resist enslavement during colonial times.

The artist explains, “Abortion remains contested to this day as the recent Supreme Court ruling in the United States demonstrates [Roe v. Wade 1973 which legalised abortion in the USA was overturned in 2022] and even on the island of Jamaica abortion remains illegal. Consequently, trafficking in plants that could aid in abortion was illegal for both the market woman and the woman seeking to end an unwanted pregnancy. In this way the market woman became the “The Keeper of All the Secrets”: She had to be secretive enough to protect herself as well as the girls and women she was helping. All of this is showcased in a tea set outlined in gold making the point that enslavement, colonialism, slavery gave rise to luxury commodities enjoyed in Europe as in this tea set.”

The story behind… The Keeper of All The Secrets

Watch the conversation between artist Jacqueline Bishop and historian Stella Dadzie about the influences behind ‘The Keeper of All The Secrets’.

Salons in the Queen’s House

Breadfruit and the Creolising of Caribbean Foodways

Inspired by artist Jacqueline Bishop’s The Keeper of All The Secrets tea service on display in the Queen’s House, this free lunchtime talk historian Jade Lindo will explore the historical and cultural significance of breadfruit in the Caribbean.Jade Lindo will speak about the historical and cultural significance of breadfruit in Caribbean foodways, particularly through the experiences of Black enslaved women. Tracing the spread of breadfruit in the Caribbean from the nineteenth century to the present, Jade’s talk will reveal the intersections between colonial botany, labour, and gender.Jade Lindo is a PhD student at the University of Warwick, focusing on the cultural and historical significance of the breadfruit at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Location Queen’s House
Date and Times Wednesday 16 July 2025 | 1pm – 1.30pm
Prices Free

Book Now

A book containing essays about the artwork, including poems by the artist and an interview, will accompany the display.  Featuring original essays, poetry by Bishop and an extensive interview with the artist, the book considers the role and significance of the market woman, who enabled others living under colonialism to take control of their reproductive agency. The publication is now available to order.

Past Events at Royal Museums Greenwich

Launch of The Keeper of All The Secrets & Long Table Discussion

The launch featured a Long Table discussion hosted by artist Jacqueline Bishop and writer Stella Dadzie.

A Long Table discussion is a participatory discussion format developed by the artist Lois Weaver as part of her performance art. Inspired by the informal, communal nature of dining tables, it creates an inclusive space for open dialogue, where participants can freely join, speak, or listen without hierarchical constraints.

Our discussion, inspired by the figure of the market woman, flowed naturally from people sharing intimate histories of ‘market women’ in their families and visions of transnational solidarity to how we engage and empower future generations in the discussions of colonial legacies.

Hosted in the Great Hall of the historic Queen’s House in Greenwich, at the heart of Britain’s imperial legacy, we hope that the event marked a starting point for important dialogues on imperialism, enslavement, and women’s resistance.

Photo by Natalia Janula.