Virginia Historical Society Click to return to the Virginia Historical Society homepage Online Exhibitions Search   Early Images of Virginia Indians
Early Images of Virginia Indians
 

space
Early Images of Virginia Indians: The William W. Cole Collection
space
Related page: Invented Scenes for Narratives

Ralph Hamor visits Powhatan with a proposal

Ralph Hamor visits Powhatan with a proposal
By Johann Theodore de Bry after Georg Keller
Engraving from book page, 1619
Plate 10 from America, Part 10

View enlarged image [opens in new window]

In May 1614 Ralph Hamor, the interpreter Thomas Savage, and two guides visit Powhatan's town on the Pamunkey River. In the foreground Powhatan feels Hamor's neck for "the chaine of pearle" Powhatan had given Thomas Dale to designate the English envoy. In the background at center, Hamor has an audience with Powhatan at his house, surrounded by Powhatan's guard. After presenting gifts, Hamor asks if Dale can have Powhatan's youngest daughter as "his neerest companion, wife and bedfellow." Powhatan refuses the request. Left of the house, an Englishman stands with Indian men, perhaps a representation of Hamor finding William Parker—a colonist lost for three years—among the Indians. In this image, the artist's invented details include the spear, the design and materials of the houses, and the tropical trees.



Line
Image rights owned by the Virginia Historical Society. Do not use without permission. Rights and reproductions

  Early Images of Virginia Indians