Pas de Deux: Two talents telling the untold story of Gustav Badin in world-first ballet 'Gustavia'

Within Stockholm’s National Museum hangs a spellbinding portrait. The 18th century work, commissioned by Queen Lovisa Ulrika, captures a resplendent Black man in aristocratic dress with fanciful plumes of feathers, decorative blue epaulettes and a noble white sash. He is seated by a chess board. The match is complete, some pieces have toppled. With a mischievous smile, he triumphantly bears the game’s knight piece between his thumb and forefinger.

It is a painting of Adolph Ludvig Gustaf Fredric Albert Couschi, better known as ‘Badin’ (as derived from the French word for a prankster). “That portrait, it’s been following me,” says Swedish-Eritrean fashion designer Selam Fessahaye. “I saved it to my computer many years ago, when I was looking for portrayals of non-white people during the 1700s. I had heard something about Badin, I’d read about it once, but I never really put it together as a true story.”

Fessahaye is not alone. Despite the prominence and enigma of Badin’s portrait, the remarkable story of its subject is unbeknown to many Swedes. As a child, the enslaved Badin was brought from St Croix in the West Indies – a Danish colony at the time – as a gift to the Swedish Royal Court in the 1750s. He was welcomed into the royal environment with affection, becoming a close playmate to Gustav III and Princess Sofia Albertina. Eventually, Badin was officially baptised into the royal family and became a figure of Swedish society, respected for his wit, intelligence and loyalty. He was a dancer, a diplomat, lover of the arts and a friend of Carl Michael Bellman. On occasion, he even helped Bellman to compose verses – some of which were published in his name. Like the knight that he holds in his portrait, Badin moved with clever agility through the chessboard of court life.