Pocahontas jewellery returns to London
10 June 2005
Fans of Pocahontas can discover a little more about the real life Native American princess at the Museum in Docklands this month. Silver and shell earrings believed to have belonged to Pocahontas are on display from 10 June to 10 July 2005, as part of a collection of objects being loaned by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
This marks the beginning of the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English colony and the birthplace of the United States of America, in 2007.
Amongst the exhibits surviving from the very first Jamestown settlement are:
- A beautiful silver earpick, used for cleaning nails and scooping wax out of ears.
- Tobacco pipes, belonging both to colonists and Native Americans, reflecting the crop which supported the settlers and became a lasting symbol of Virginia itself.
- A pewter flagon found in a well dating back to 1620s and probably lost whilst collecting water.
- A Roanoke stamped pot made by the Powhatan Indians and used by the colonists to cook their meals in the fort.
The material, both decorative and everyday, offers an intriguing glimpse of this early community, who set out from London with little idea that their “Virginia Adventure” would found a nation.
David Spence, director of Museum in Docklands, said, “Few people realise that Pocahontas was a real person, less still that she visited London in 1616, and is buried in Gravesend. We are delighted that these earrings, passed down through generations of her descendents, have followed her journey across the Atlantic.
“This collection of fascinating artefacts from the Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological project is helping to rewrite the history of the early colonists and their relationship with the Native Americans. It is a tantalising foretaste of an exhibition Museum in Docklands is planning for 2007.”
Bly Straube, curator of the Jamestown Rediscovery project, said “The earrings on display at Museum in Docklands are most likely to have been crafted during Pocahontas’ sojourn amongst the well heeled of London’s court society.
“Although pearls were often worn by Native American nobility, the silver rims, with steel point inlay suggests these were set in England. We know that while the Earl of Northumberland was imprisoned in the Tower of London he repaired some earrings for Pocahontas – we may never know for sure, but these might be the very same pair.”
As an extraordinary bridge between the new Jamestown arrivals and the Native Americans, the short life of Pocahontas has passed into myth and legend, with many of the players in the tale romanticising their own involvement, not least Captain John Smith, whom the young Indian girl was famously reputed to have saved from execution.
But by the time Pocahontas converted to Christianity, married the successful tobacco planter John Rolfe, and set sail for England in 1616, her fame was travelling well ahead of her. Presented as the “Indian Princess” she was granted an audience with James I and Queen Charlotte and, like all fashionable ladies of means had her portrait engraved by a noted artist, Simon van de Passe.
Further information:
Tim Morley
tel: 020 7814 5607
email: tmorley@museumoflondon.org.uk
Images available:
- Pocahontas’ earrings
- Silver earpick
- Pocahontas’ portrait
News media can access high-resolution images in Jamestown:
www.apva.org/press
The login is “press”
The password is “h74Ykg9”
Notes to editors
- Museum in Docklands, in Canary Wharf, opened in 2003 and is a short walk along West India Quay from the Docklands Light Railway. Housed in a converted 18th century warehouse the Museum explores the 2000-year history of London’s river, port and people.
The atmospheric Museum has four floors of interactive displays and a unique collection that journeys through the history of the Thames, from the first Roman settlements to the massive urban regeneration that brought the Docklands into the 21st century. A changing programme of fun and interesting activities caters for all ages and includes re-enactments by old sailors, talks by history experts, films and guided walks through Docklands.
For more information, directions and details about our events go to www.museumindocklands.org.uk or call 0870 444 3857.
- The Jamestown Rediscovery project, led by William Kelso, APVA director of archaeology, has significantly modified the base of knowledge and understanding of the first settlers, their relationship with Virginia Indians, their endeavours and struggles, and how they lived and died. When archaeologists found remains of the fort in 1996, APVA Preservation Virginia dispelled the long-held belief that the fort was lost to the James River.
The Jamestown Rediscovery excavations are providing more detail and a more complete view of the early years at Jamestown that suggest a more positive story about the “Virginia Adventure” than the written accounts reveal.
For additional information see www.historicjamestowne.org.