New Discoveries at Jamestown Part 4

Spanish Maiolica.--This maiolica is a tin-glazed earthenware with a soft body usually buff in color and porous in texture. The colorful decorations were hand painted on the absorbent surface--usually in greens, blues, yellows, and reddish-browns, against a white background.

Some small Spanish jugs in the collection bear very crude dark-red floral designs painted against a cream-colored background. A few examples of maiolica found at Jamestown are believed to have been made in Lisbon, and these usually have designs in blues and dark purples against a white background.

Salt-glazed Stoneware.--This common but attractive type of pottery found in many excavations at Jamestown includes mugs, jars, bottles, tankards, and jugs. It is a very hard ware which was fired at high temperatures and finished with a salt glaze, formed by throwing common salt into the furnace. The surface of the body has a pitted appearance resembling an orange peel, and is covered with a thin, gla.s.slike coating. Most of the salt-glazed stoneware unearthed was made in Germany, although a small amount was manufactured in England.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COLORFUL SPANISH MAIOLICA FOUND WHICH APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN MADE BEFORE 1650.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A LARGE GERMAN STONEWARE JUG UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN. THE DATE "1661" APPEARS ABOVE THE MEDALLION.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FEW EXAMPLES OF GERMAN SALT-GLAZED STONEWARE IN THE JAMESTOWN COLLECTION. ALL WERE MADE DURING THE 17TH CENTURY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RECONSTRUCTED WINEGLa.s.sES AND WINEGLa.s.s FRAGMENTS IN THE JAMESTOWN COLLECTION.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: NOTE THE MAKERS' MARKS OR SEALS ON THE WINEGLa.s.s FRAGMENTS. ONLY A FEW ENGLISH WINEGLa.s.sES BEARING 17TH-CENTURY MAKERS'

SEALS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN AMERICA.]

METALWARE EATING AND DRINKING VESSELS

While large numbers of eating and drinking vessels made of pottery have been excavated on Jamestown Island, only a few fragments of utensils made of silver, pewter, bra.s.s, and copper were found. Metalware vessels were relatively scarce during the early years of the settlement, and their almost complete absence in the Jamestown collection may be attributed to the fact that not many of them were discarded, regardless of their worn condition. Only a few metal handles from mugs and cups, and a small number of pewter plate fragments, have been excavated.

Although no complete specimens of domestic silver and pewter eating and drinking vessels were found, 17th-century records and inventories indicate that many Jamestown families owned such wares (especially after 1630), including cups, beakers, dishes, salts, salvers, tankards, porringers, bowls, and plates.

It is of interest that 2 goldsmiths, 2 refiners, and a jeweler arrived at Jamestown in 1608 aboard the supply s.h.i.+p _Phoenix_. Although John Smith related that these artisans "never had occasion to exercise their craft," it is possible that they made a few metal objects (such as spoons) in the capital city.

GLa.s.s DRINKING VESSELS

Gla.s.s was made at Jamestown in 1608-09, and again in 1621-24. It was, in all probability, the first commodity made by the English in a "factory"

in the New World. Many gla.s.s fragments were found at the furnace site, but none was large enough to reveal what specific gla.s.s objects were made there. It appears that drinking gla.s.ses may have been among the items manufactured.

The majority of the gla.s.s drinking vessels unearthed at Jamestown were made in England, although a few were manufactured in Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries. In the collection are fragments from goblets, beakers, bowls, and winegla.s.ses. Four of the English winegla.s.s stems bear makers' seals, rare marks seldom found on English drinking vessels.

GLa.s.s WINE AND GIN BOTTLES

These comprise a large and important part of the Jamestown collection.

Literally thousands of gla.s.s fragments from these bottles have been unearthed, and by diligent and patient work a few complete wine and gin bottles have been pieced together.

The gla.s.s wine bottles were made in England. The oldest excavated, made between 1640 and 1660, have spherical bodies and tall necks. Those made between 1660 and 1680 have cup-shaped bodies with short necks. Of the period between 1680 and 1700 the neck is very short and the body is wide and squat. Insofar as is known, no gla.s.s wine bottles were used at Jamestown before 1640.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLa.s.s WINE BOTTLES UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN RANGING IN DATE FROM 1640 TO 1690. THOUSANDS OF FRAGMENTS OF THESE BOTTLES HAVE BEEN RECOVERED.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN a.s.sORTMENT OF GLa.s.s BOTTLE SEALS IN THE JAMESTOWN COLLECTION. SOME OF THE WEALTHY PLANTERS HAD THEIR INITIALS (OR OTHER ORNAMENTAL DEVICE) STAMPED ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE WINE BOTTLES WHICH THEY ORDERED FROM ENGLAND.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THIS DUTCH GIN BOTTLE EXCAVATED AT JAMESTOWN WAS IMPORTED FROM HOLLAND.]

About 1650 the practice of affixing gla.s.s seals or b.u.t.tons on the shoulders of English wine bottles was begun. The seal was inscribed with a name, or initials, or a date; sometimes a coat of arms or a crest, or other device or ornament. Many of these gla.s.s bottle seals have been found at Jamestown. As a rule, only the wealthy and influential planters had seals stamped on their wine bottles.

Gin bottles found at Jamestown are tall and square with thin gla.s.s sides. Imported from Holland, many were made as early as 1625. One gin bottle was miraculously unearthed intact, and not as much as a chip or crack was found on this 300-year-old fragile specimen.

FOOD STORAGE VESSELS AND FACILITIES

Many earthenware jars, pots, bowls, and jugs excavated at Jamestown were used for the storage of foods. Wooden and wicker containers were also used, although because of their perishable nature none was unearthed.

Seventeenth-century inventories list many of these perishable storage items, including casks, barrels, hogsheads, tubs, bins, and baskets.

Leather bottles are also mentioned in a few early records.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EARTHENWARE VESSELS USED FOR THE STORAGE OF FOODS. SOME WERE MADE AT JAMESTOWN, SOME WERE IMPORTED FROM ENGLAND.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "HARVESTING" ICE, ABOUT 1650. ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS REVEALED THAT ICEHOUSES WERE BUILT ON THE HISTORIC ISLAND OVER 300 YEARS AGO. (Painting by Sidney E. King.)]

A brick-lined storage compartment was found in the cellar (below floor level) of one of the 17th-century buildings. It was used, undoubtedly, for the storage of such easily spoiled foods as milk, cheese, eggs, and cream. Wine, too, was probably kept in bottles in the cool compartment, as many broken bottles were found inside.

An extremely important discovery was a large, deep, ice-storage pit, believed to be the only 17th-century ice pit which has been excavated in Virginia. The conjectural painting on page 48 shows its probable appearance when in use about 1650. Ice-storage pits held dairy products, meats, and other spoilable foods as well as ice. Pond ice was usually cut and stored in the pit in late winter. Sometimes it lasted until late summer or early autumn.

Clothing and Footwear

The Jamestown settlers of the middle cla.s.s were usually dressed in hard wearing, rough clothes made of homespun material, with a slightly better (and perhaps more colorful) costume for Sunday and holiday wear. In 1622 each Englishman who planned to emigrate to Jamestown was advised to supply himself with the following wearing apparel:

"One Monmouth cap [a flat, round cap].

Three falling bands [a neckband or collar of a s.h.i.+rt which turned down over the shoulders].

Three s.h.i.+rts.

One waste-coate.

One suite of Canvase [a suit made of coa.r.s.e cloth, such as cotton, hemp, tow, or jute].

One suite of Frize [a woolen fabric with a nap].

One suite of Cloth.

Three paire of Irish stockins.

Foure paire of shooes.

One paire of garters.

One doozen of points [a point was a tie or string ending with an anglet and used to join parts of a costume as doublet and hose]."

The women wore plain frocks and petticoats, although a few of the wealthy ladies owned silk, satin, and velvet dresses. Bodices, as a rule, were long pointed, and skirts were full and long.

Perhaps the most unique items of wearing apparel recovered at Jamestown were several leather shoe soles and two almost-complete shoes, found in a dirtlined well in a.s.sociation with artifacts of the 1625-50 period.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOR EVERYDAY USE THE JAMESTOWN SETTLERS WORE HARDWEARING CLOTHES MADE OF HOMESPUN CLOTH. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

Other objects unearthed relating to wearing apparel and costume accessories, include an excellent a.s.sortment of buckles, b.u.t.tons, and bra.s.s eyelets. Items in the collection which were used in the mending of clothes include needles, pins, and thimbles (both bra.s.s and silver).

[Ill.u.s.tration: A LEATHER SHOE AND SEVERAL LEATHER SHOE SOLES WERE UNCOVERED IN AN EARLY 17TH-CENTURY WELL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FEW BUCKLES AND b.u.t.tONS IN THE JAMESTOWN COLLECTION.

MANY ARE OVER 300 YEARS OLD.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOMESPUN CLOTHES WERE SELDOM DISCARDED. THE MANY PINS, NEEDLES, AND THIMBLES FOUND REVEAL THAT MENDING WAS A NEVER-ENDING Ch.o.r.e FOR THE BUSY HOUSEWIFE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN a.s.sORTMENT OF CARPENTERS' TOOLS UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN. MOST OF THEM WERE USED OVER THREE CENTURIES AGO.]