Building A Small Brick House At Jamestown, About 1630Conjectural sketch
Conjectural sketch
Making Brick At Jamestown About 1650Conjectural sketch
Conjectural sketch
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Overall View Of Brick Kiln Unearthed at JamestownIn addition to bricks, flat roofing tiles were found in this kiln—placed there for firing with the bricks. Four brick kilns were discovered at Jamestown during archeological explorations.
Overall View Of Brick Kiln Unearthed at Jamestown
In order to build brick houses lime was needed by the bricklayers and plasterers for making plaster and mortar. Contemporary records reveal that "lymeburners" emigrated to Jamestown as early as 1610. As four lime kilns were found during archeological excavations, it is evident that the lime used by the Jamestown builders was made on the historic island. In the kilns oyster shells from the James River were burned and converted into lime by the limeburners.
The unearthing of large quantities of plaster and mortar at Jamestown indicates that the majority of the brick houses (as well as many frame structures) had plastered walls and ceilings, especially after 1635. Some plaster excavated had been white-washed while other bore its natural whitish-gray color. All plaster and mortar found was made from oyster shell lime, sand, and clay.
Ornamental or decorative plaster was found near a few of the house foundations. The plasterwork, decorated in raised ornamental designs, was used for enhancing the beauty of both the interior and exterior of a building. Designs on the plaster included Roman numerals, letters, mottos, crests, veined leaves, rosettes, geometric patterns, a lion, and a face or mask. Many fragments of moulded plaster cornices were also recovered. Broken oyster shells are distinguishable in the ornamental plasterwork, indicating that the pargetting was made at Jamestown.
Making Lime From Oyster Shells, About 1625Conjectural sketch
Conjectural sketch
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Ornamental Plaster Made At JamestownArcheological explorations revealed that ornamental plaster was used on a few Jamestown buildings—for enhancing the beauty of both the exterior and interior. Broken oyster shells are imbedded in the decorated plaster, indicating that the pargetting was made at Jamestown.
Ornamental Plaster Made At Jamestown
When Jamestown was established in 1607 the Indians living in Tidewater Virginia were smoking a leaf from the native tobacco plant,Nicotiana rustica. It was a bitter tasting leaf of rather poor quality, and never cultivated on a large scale by the early planters.
About 1611, seeds of a West Indies tobacco plant,Nicotiana tabacum, were introduced into Virginia. A year later John Rolfe experimented with the seeds from the West Indies plant, together with tobacco seeds from South America. The exact nature of Rolfe's tests, carried on at or near Jamestown, is unknown, but the plant he seemingly developed was one with a mild, sweet-scented, leaf.
The new sweet-scented leaf became popular overnight, and during the remainder of the seventeenth century it proved the economic salvation of the colony. To a large degree, the new crop determined the economic, social, and political life of the planters. The demand in England for the new leaf was also responsible, in a large measure, for the spread of settlement and increase of population in Virginia. The tobacco plant developed by Rolfe was the first crop grown by the Virginia settlers which made a profit.
The conjectural illustration shows Jamestown colonists harvesting tobacco about the year 1650.
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service.Harvesting Tobacco At Jamestown About 1650Conjectural Painting
Harvesting Tobacco At Jamestown About 1650
Conjectural Painting
During the early years of the Jamestown settlement the Virginia Company of London encouraged many agricultural pursuits, including the planting and cultivation of grape vines and the making of wine. The reasons seemed to have been twofold: first, to make money for the Virginia Company, whose stock-holders had invested much capital in the new colony; and secondly, to insure the mother country a steady flow of inexpensive wine—which was impossible as long as continental merchants charged exorbitant prices for wines sent to England. Then, too, if wine could be made successfully in Virginia, the people living in the new settlement would profit accordingly.
Vineyards were planted on Jamestown Island at various periods of time during the seventeenth century, and quantities of good wines were made, but far too often inferior wine was fermented. Because of the long sea journey from Virginia, casks of good wine sent to England frequently arrived in a spoiled condition.
After 1675 the hope of producing good Virginia wine for export purposes waned. During the last ten years of the century, when Jamestown declined, the vineyards were neglected, fell prey to deer and the elements, and soon became engulfed in the wilderness.
The illustration shows a man and woman pressing grapes at Jamestown about 1650. The woman is trampling them, whereas the man is using a primitive grape press.
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service.Making Wine At Jamestown About 1650Conjectural Painting
Making Wine At Jamestown About 1650
Conjectural Painting
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Items Found At Jamestown Relating To Wine
Items Found At Jamestown Relating To Wine
Wine was a popular beverage in Virginia during the seventeenth century. A few items unearthed at Jamestown which relate to wine consumption are shown: a wine bottle, wine glass, glass bottle seals (which were attached to the shoulders of many wine bottles), a bronze spigot, and wooden barrel staves. In 1610 Francisco Maguel, who had spent eight months in Virginia, wrote that "There grow in that country [Virginia] wild many forest grapes, of which the English make a wine that resembles much the wine of Alicante, according to the opinion of the narrator who has tasted both."
The Vintage.Vindemia.
Wine groweth in the Vine-yard 1, where Vines are propagated, and tied with Twigs to Trees 2, or to Props 3, or Frames 4. When the time of grape-gathering is come, they cut off the Bunches, and carry them in measures of three bushels 5, and throw them into a Vat 6, and tread them with their Feet 7, or tramp them with a wooden Pestil 8, and squèese out the juice in the Wine-press 9, which is called Must 11, and being received in a great Tub 10, it is powred into Hogs-heads 12, it is stopped up 15 and being laid close in Cellars upon Settles 14 it becommeth Wine. It is drawn out of the Hogshead, with a Cock 13, or Faucet 16, (in which is a Spigot) the Vessel being unbunged.
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library Washington, D. C.
Making Wine In 1685
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.
The interesting engraving entitled "The Vintage" was made in 1685. A wine making establishment at Jamestown may have resembled the one in the illustration.
FromOrbis Sensualium Pictusby Johann Comenius (London, 1685).
During the early years of the seventeenth century England was paying exorbitant prices for silk. Most of it was purchased from the Mediterranean countries—France, Italy, and Spain. Some was imported from the Near East, and small amounts from the Orient were bought from Dutch sea captains. As extremely high prices were being paid for the precious cloth, the Virginia Company decided to experiment with silk culture in the new colony.
Silk was made at Jamestown during the seventeenth century, but the enterprise seldom brought profit to the planters. The majority of the colonists had to struggle to grow crops and produce goods with which they were familiar, and were reluctant to experiment with a commodity which required a special skill that they did not possess. A few settlers, however, made serious efforts to raise silkworms, and at times small quantities of silk were made and shipped to England.
The silk-making venture died a hard death, but the large mulberry trees which still grow in many places in Tidewater Virginia (perhaps scions of seventeenth century ones) are reminders of a day when a few Virginia colonists fed and nurtured silkworms and "wound off" silk thread onto primitive wooden reels.
In the conjectural illustration a woman is drawing silk thread from the cods; the man is winding the thread on a wooden reel.
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service.Drawing And Winding Silk Thread, About 1650Conjectural Painting
Drawing And Winding Silk Thread, About 1650
Conjectural Painting
There is definite evidence that pottery was made at Jamestown over 300 years ago. A kiln site was uncovered in 1955, and nearby were found overfired pots, misshaped vessels, and mis-glazed pieces—undoubtedly from the "waster" pile. Also found near the kiln site were two complete pots, and hundreds of fragments from local-made vessels which were used in the colony between 1625 and 1650—indisputable evidence that crude, utilitarian, lead-glazed earthenware was made at Jamestown during the seventeenth century.
Although made for everyday use, many of the pieces unearthed at the Jamestown kiln site are symmetrical in form and not entirely lacking in beauty. One can easily see that the craftsman took pride in shaping the pieces, as three centuries later the crude wares are still pleasing to behold.
The Jamestown potter, indeed, was no young apprentice or mere farmer who potted on the side. The potter's art, then as now, was a highly specialized one, rooted in a long tradition. Our potter was an artisan, trained in the mysteries of a medieval craft, and it was probably he who first transplanted his ancient skills to the Virginia wilderness.
The conjectural illustration shows a Jamestown potter shaping a vessel on his crude kick wheel.
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service.Making Pottery At Jamestown About 1625Conjectural Painting
Making Pottery At Jamestown About 1625
Conjectural Painting
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Examples Of Lead-Glazed Earthenware Made At Jamestown Between 1625 and 1640The pottery vessels shown were found near the site of an early seventeenth-century pottery kiln discovered on Jamestown Island in 1833.
Photo courtesy National Park Service.
Examples Of Lead-Glazed Earthenware Made At Jamestown Between 1625 and 1640
The Potter:
The Potter 1, sitting over a Wheel 2, maketh Pots 4, Pitchers 5, Pipkins 6, Platters 7, Pudding-Pans 8, Juggs 9, Lids 10, &c of Potters-clay 3, afterwards he baketh them in an Oven 11, and glazeth them with White-Lead. A broken pot, affordeth Pot-sheards, 12.
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.
Making Pottery In The Seventeenth Century
The kick wheel used by the Jamestown potter may have resembled the one in the seventeenth-century engraving.
FromOrbis Sensualium Pictusby Johann Comenius (London, 1685).
As early as 1608 two goldsmiths—William Johnson and Richard Belfield—emigrated to Jamestown. With them were two refiners and a jeweler. Although John Smith wrote that these artisans "never had occasion to exercise their craft," it is possible that they made a few small objects of silver, pewter, and latten metal (a brass-like alloy).
In spite of the fact that few specimens of silver and pewter were found at Jamestown, seventeenth century records and inventories indicate that many Virginia families owned such wares, including cups, beakers, dishes, salts, salvers, tankards, porringers, bowls, and plates.
A pewterer who lived thirty miles from Jamestown—Joseph Copeland by name—made the oldest dated piece of American pewter which has been found. In the 1930's, National Park Service archeologists, working at Jamestown, recovered the significant specimen—an incomplete pewter spoon which is a variant of the trifid or split-end type common during the 1650-1690 period. Impressed on the handle, in the trefoil finial of the stem is the mark of the maker, giving his name, the Virginia town where he worked, and the year he started business. The matchless spoon bears the sole surviving "touch" or mark of an American pewterer of the seventeenth century. The complete legend, encircling a heart, reads: "IOSEPH COPELAND/1675/CHUCKATUCK." (Chuckatuck is a small Virginia village located about thirty miles southeast of Jamestown.) Copeland later moved to Jamestown, and as he worked in the statehouse from 1688-1691 he may have made pewter in Virginia's capital "Citty."
The conjectural sketch shows a Jamestown metalworker making spoons.
Making Pewter Spoons At Jamestown About 1675Conjectural sketch
Conjectural sketch
Photo courtesy National Park ServiceA Unique Pewter Spoon Handle Found At JamestownThe rather commonplace and incomplete spoon fragment illustrated is significant for many reasons. Its prime importance is that it is the oldest known pewter object of American manufacture. The mark on the handle is the sole surviving one of an American pewterer of the seventeenth century. The mark reveals that the spoon was made in 1675 by Joseph Copeland, who worked at Chuckatuck, Virginia (located thirty miles southeast of Jamestown).
A Unique Pewter Spoon Handle Found At Jamestown
The rather commonplace and incomplete spoon fragment illustrated is significant for many reasons. Its prime importance is that it is the oldest known pewter object of American manufacture. The mark on the handle is the sole surviving one of an American pewterer of the seventeenth century. The mark reveals that the spoon was made in 1675 by Joseph Copeland, who worked at Chuckatuck, Virginia (located thirty miles southeast of Jamestown).
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Items Left At Jamestown By Early MetalworkersThe brass weights, ingot of scrap brass, and silver spoon shown, which were unearthed at Jamestown, are reminders of a bygone day when metalworkers made beautiful things in Virginia's colonial capital over three centuries ago. Contemporary records indicate that many metalworkers emigrated to Virginia during the seventeenth century.
Items Left At Jamestown By Early Metalworkers
The brass weights, ingot of scrap brass, and silver spoon shown, which were unearthed at Jamestown, are reminders of a bygone day when metalworkers made beautiful things in Virginia's colonial capital over three centuries ago. Contemporary records indicate that many metalworkers emigrated to Virginia during the seventeenth century.
When the first settlers planted their small colony at Jamestown the tidewater rivers and bays teemed with many kinds of fish and seafood. Varieties which soon appeared on the colonists' tables included sheepshead, shad, sturgeon, herring, sole, white salmon, bass, flounder, pike, bream, perch, rock, and drum; as well as oysters, crabs, and mussels.
The day after the colonists reached Virginia, April 27 1607, George Percy observed that the oysters were large and tasty:
We came to a place where they [the Indians] had made a great fire, and had beene newly a rosting oysters. When they perceived our comming, they fled away to the mountaines, and left many of the oysters in the fire. We eat some of the oysters, which were very large and delicate in taste.
The following day, April 28, Percy noted that some of the oysters had pearls:
... we got good store of mussels and oysters, which lay on the ground as thicke as stones. Wee opened some, and found in many of them pearles.
The Jamestown planters who wrote accounts of the new colony commented on the abundance and variety of fish and shellfish in the rivers and creeks near the "capital citty." It seems rather surprising, therefore, that so many colonists died during the first autumn "of meere famine," as reported by Percy, when the James River teemed with fish, oysters, and crabs.
Captain Gabriel Archer, Gentleman, mentioned a seven foot sturgeon which was caught on June 13 1607: "Our Admiralls men gatt a sturgeon of 7 foote long which Captayne Newport gave us." George Percy commented onthe excellence of the sturgeon in the James River:
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Fishhooks, Fish-gigs, Lead Net-Weights
Fishhooks, Fish-gigs, Lead Net-Weights
The artifacts shown were excavated at Jamestown. These objects and many others found, are reminders of a day when fish and shellfish lived in abundance in every creek, river, and bay, in Tidewater Virginia.
There are many branches of this river, which runne flowing through the woods with great plentie of fish of all kindes; as for sturgeon, all the world cannot be compared to it....
John Smith and William Strachey also listed the delicious and palatable varieties of fish and shellfish which were found in Virginia waters, revealing that seafood was an important source of food for the colonists. At times, especially during the early years, it was one of the main sources.
Repairing Nets At Jamestown About 1620Conjectural sketchSeafood was an important food for the early colonists. At times, especially during the first years of the settlement, it was one of the main foodstuffs.
Conjectural sketch
Seafood was an important food for the early colonists. At times, especially during the first years of the settlement, it was one of the main foodstuffs.
One seventeenth century building unearthed at Jamestown appears to have been used as a place where beer, ale, brandy, and other alcoholic beverages were made. Nearby were found pieces of lead, which may have been part of a lead cistern which held barley, and inside the building were three brick ovens, which may have been used for drying malt. A handle from a copper kettle was discovered near one of the ovens, and pieces of copper and lead pipes were recovered not far from the building. Historical objects excavated near the site revealed that the structure was used between 1625 and 1660.
A 1685 account relating to brewing could very well refer to a Jamestown establishment where beer and other beverages were made nearly 300 years ago:
Where wine is not to be had they drink beer, which is brewed of malt and hops, in a caldron. Afterwards it is powred into vatts, and when it is cold, it is carried in soes [wooden pails], into the cellar and is put into vessels.
Brandy-wine, extracted by the power of heat from dregs of wine in a pan, over which a limbeck [an apparatus used in distillation] is placed, droppeth thorow a pipe into a glass.
Wine and beer, when they turn sowr, become vinegar.
They make mede of wine and honey.
Brewing BeerConjectural sketch
Conjectural sketch
Drawing.
Where Wine is not to be had they drink Beer, which is brewed of Malt 1, and Hops 2, in a Caldron 3, afterwards it is powred into Vatts 4, and when it is cold, it is carried in Soes 5, into the Cellar 6, and is put into Vessels. Brandy-wine, extracted by the power of heat from dregs of Wine in a Pan 7, over which a Limbeck 8, is placed droppeth thorow a Pipe 9, into a Glass. Wine and Beer, when they turn sowr, become Vinegar. They make Mede of Wine and Honey.
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.
Beer, Brandy, Mead, and Vinegar
These beverages may have been made at Jamestown in a building somewhat similar to the one shown in the 1685 engraving.
FromOrbis Sensualium Pictusby Johann Comenius (London, 1685).
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Artifacts Unearthed Relating To Brewing And DistillingShown are lead and copper pipes, kettle fragments, a brass spigot, and scrap metal. It is believed that most of the beer and ale brewed at Jamestown after 1620 was made by the common brewer. One act, passed in 1620/21 "for the repressinge of the odious ... sinne of drunkenesse," stated that "noe person ... shall at any tyme ... brewe anie beere or ale, and sell the same againe in his or her house ... unless it bee in townes where there is noe comon brewer."
Artifacts Unearthed Relating To Brewing And Distilling
Shown are lead and copper pipes, kettle fragments, a brass spigot, and scrap metal. It is believed that most of the beer and ale brewed at Jamestown after 1620 was made by the common brewer. One act, passed in 1620/21 "for the repressinge of the odious ... sinne of drunkenesse," stated that "noe person ... shall at any tyme ... brewe anie beere or ale, and sell the same againe in his or her house ... unless it bee in townes where there is noe comon brewer."
Among commodities which the early Jamestown settlers searched for were herbs and medicinal plants. It is possible that Thomas Wotton and Will Wilkinson, surgeons with the first colony, were the first members of the English medical profession to collect and experiment with New World plants.
The few colonists who wrote of their travels in Virginia frequently made mention of the herbs and native plants. George Percy related that five days after the settlers had planted their colony at Jamestown, May 19, 1607, that "One of the savages brought us on the way to the wood-side, where there was a garden of tobacco and other fruits and herbes."
On an exploring trip upriver from Jamestown in late May, 1607, Gabriel Archer recorded that "One [savage] shewed us the herbe called in their tonguewisacan, which they say heales poysoned woundes, it is like lyverwort or bloudwort."
John Smith mentioned the spring herbs, though he did not know their names: "Manyhearbesin the spring time there are common dispersed throughout the woods, good for brothes and sallets, as violets, purslin, sorrell, &c. Besides many we used whose names we know not."
The first supply, approximately 120 settlers, reached Jamestown in midwinter and early spring, 1608. Among the group was a physician, Dr. Walter Russell; a surgeon, Post Ginnatt; and two apothecaries, Thomas Feld and John Harford. There is no record, however, indicating that these men used Virginia plants and herbs for medicinal purposes.
The man who first made intensive experiments with native plants was Doctor Lawrence Bohun. Arriving at Jamestown in 1610, he is mentioned several times by William Strachey, whoalso reached Jamestown in 1610, inThe Historie of Travell into Virginia Britania 1612:
Doctor Lawrence Bohun Experimenting With Herbs At Jamestown, 1610Conjectural sketch
Conjectural sketch
There groweth in the Island of James-towne a smale tree of leaves, armes and fruict, like the myrtle-tree, the fruict thereof hath a tast with the mirtle, but much more bynding, these trees grow in great plentye, rownd about a standing pond of fresh water in the middle of the Island; the pill or rynd whereof is of so great force against inveterate dissentericall fluxes of which Doctor Bohoune made open experiment in many of our men labouring with such diseases and therefore wisheth all such phisitians as shall goe thither to make use thereof.
As early as 1610 the Virginia Company of London instructed the colonists to send the following plants to England: sassafras, bayberries, "poccone to be gotten from the Indians," "galbrand [galbanum] groweth like fennell," sarsaparilla, and walnut oil. Other plants, both native and exotic, which were cultivated at Jamestown for medicinal purposes included mastic, woodbine, senna, snakeroot, dittany, mechoacan, pepper-wort, Jamestown (or Jimson) weed, wild cherry, and rhubarb.
Most of the herbs which were cultivated in English gardens grew successfully in Virginia, especially the ones listed in John Gerard'sThe Herbal(London, 1597), and William Lawson'sThe Country Housewifes Garden(London, 1617). Many contemporary records reveal that several herbs were used for medicinal purposes as well as for improving the flavor of certain foods and beverages.
A few herbs still grow on Jamestown Island, and together with the native sassafras, bayberry, wild bergamot, and bee balm, they remind us that the wilderness physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries did everything in their power to keep the English settlers alive and well three centuries ago.
Photo courtesy National Park ServiceItems Used By Jamestown Doctors And ApothecariesThe drug jars, ointment pot, vials, and mortar and pestle fragments remind us that physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries experimented with herbs and native plants three centuries ago—attempting to keep the Jamestown colonists alive and well.
Items Used By Jamestown Doctors And Apothecaries
The drug jars, ointment pot, vials, and mortar and pestle fragments remind us that physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries experimented with herbs and native plants three centuries ago—attempting to keep the Jamestown colonists alive and well.
Virginia in the seventeenth century was a woodsman's paradise, and there is every reason to believe that most of the furniture used in Jamestown houses was made by colonial cabinetmakers. In the forests grew magnificent specimens of oak, walnut, pine, cypress, cedar, maple, and many other varieties; and although contemporary records are scanty, it is believed that the "James Citty" furniture makers made skillful use of such woods. William Strachey, who reached Jamestown in 1610, wrote that the church furniture was made of cedar and black walnut:
It [the church] is in length threescore foote, in breadth twenty foure, and shall have a chancell in it of cedar, and a communion table of blake walnut, and all the pewes of cedar, ... a pulpet of the same, with a font hewen hollow, like a canoa....
In spite of the fact that few records exist regarding the kinds of furniture made in the seventeenth century by Virginia cabinetmakers, the pieces extant reveal that the English styles were followed closely. While it is true that the wealthy planters imported some ornamented furniture from London, much of their furniture was made on the plantations. It is believed that practically all furniture used by the yeomen settlers was locally made.
A Jamestown Cabinetmaker At WorkConjectural sketch
Conjectural sketch
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Tools Unearthed At Jamestown Which Were Used by Coopers, Carpenters, And Furniture Makers
Tools Unearthed At Jamestown Which Were Used by Coopers, Carpenters, And Furniture Makers
Shown are gouges, augers, chisels, bits and hammers; an adze, hewing-axe, punch, race-knife, scriber, and wedge. All were hand wrought during the seventeenth century.
The Box-Maker, and the Turner.
The Box-Maker 1, smootheth hewen-Boards 2, with a Plain 3, upon a Work-board 4, he maketh them very smooth with a little plain 5, he boareth them thorow with an Augre 6, carveth them with a Knife 7, fasteneth them together with Glew, and Cramp-Irons 8, and maketh Tables 9, Boards 10, Chests 11, &c. The Turner 12, sitting over the treddle 13, turneth with a throw 14, upon a Turners-bench 15, Bowls 16, Tops 17, Puppets 18, and such like Turners work.
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.
The Box Maker And Turner
Many tools similar to those in the 1685 engraving have been unearthed at Jamestown.
FromOrbis Sensualium Pictusby Johann Comenius (London, 1685).
CarriagesVehicula:
We are carried on a Sled 1, over Snow, and Ice. A Carriage with one Wheel is called a Wheel-barrow; 2, with two Wheels a Cart; 3, with four Wheels a Wagon, which is either a Timber-wagon 4, or a Load-wagon 5. The parts of a Wagon, are, the Neep, (or draught-tree,) 6, the Beam 7, the Bottom 8, and the Sides 9, 10. Then the Axle-trees 10, about which the Wheels run the Lin-Pins 11, and Axletree-staves 12, being fastened before them. The Nave 13, is the ground-fast of the Wheel 14, from which com twelve Spokes; 15. The Ring encompasseth these, which is made of six Fellows 16, and as many Strakes 17, Hampiers, & Hurdles 18, are set in a Wagon.
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.
Seventeenth Century Carriages
Wheeled vehicles used at Jamestown 300 years ago were probably similar in appearance to the ones shown in the 1685 engraving. A wheelbarrow, cart, timber wagon, load wagon, and sled are illustrated.
FromOrbis Sensualium Pictusby Johann Comenius (London, 1685).
Spinning
Line and Hemp, being rated in water, and dried again 1, are braked with a wooden Brake 2, where the Shives 3, fall down, then they are heckled with an Iron Heckle 4, where the Tow 5, is parted from it. Flax is tied to a Distaff 6, by the Spinster 7, which with her left hand pulleth out the Thred 8, and with her righte hand turneth a Wheel 9, or a Spindle 10, upon which is a Wharl 11. The Spool receiveth the Thred 13, which is drawn thence upon a Yarn-windle; 14, hence either Clewes 15, are wound up, or Hanks 16, are made.
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.
Making Linen Thread
The various steps depicted in the making of linen thread were used at Jamestown during the seventeenth century.
FromOrbis Sensualium Pictusby Johann Comenius (London, 1685).
Bread-Baking.
The Baker 1, sifteth the Meal in a Rindge 2, and putteth it into the Kneading-trough 3. Then he powreth water to it, and maketh Dough 4, and kneadeth it with a wooden slice 5. Then he maketh Loaves 6, Cakes 7, Cimnels 8, Rolls 9. &c. Afterwards he setteth them on a Peel 10, and putteth them thorow ye Oven-mouth 12, into the Oven 11. But first he pulleth out the fire, and the coals with a Coal-rake 13, which he layeth on a heap underneath 14. And thus is Bread baked, having the Crust without 15, and ye Crumb within 16.
Courtesy Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D. C.
Baking Bread In 1685
The seventeenth century engraving shows how bread was baked almost 300 years ago.
FromOrbis Sensualium Pictusby Johann Comenius (London, 1685).
Photo courtesy National Park Service.Baking Oven Used At Jamestown Three Centuries Ago
Photo courtesy National Park Service.
Baking Oven Used At Jamestown Three Centuries Ago
The earthenware baking oven shown was restored from over 200 fragments found during archeological excavations at Jamestown. In use, heated stones were placed inside and left until the walls of the oven were hot enough for baking. Sometimes the oven was placed directly on the embers. With the small thick door in place, heat was retained for considerable time—the domed top reflecting the heat down on the bread or cakes that were being baked.
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service."Harvesting" Ice At Jamestown About 1640Conjectural Painting
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service.
"Harvesting" Ice At Jamestown About 1640
Conjectural Painting
Although not a commodity in the strict sense of the word, an icehouse was indispensable in preserving certain products. Archeological explorations at Jamestown revealed that icehouses were built on the island over 300 years ago. Ice was "harvested" during the winter months, and often remained in storage as late as September or October. It was used for cooling bottled wines, "firming" butter, and keeping fresh certain foods, such as fish, meats, and dairy products. In the illustration men are carrying ice to the circular-shaped, brick, icehouse. In the distance a man is sawing ice.
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service.A Happy Home In JamestownConjectural Painting
Research on painting by author. Photo courtesy National Park Service.
A Happy Home In Jamestown
Conjectural Painting
The early Jamestown settlers were self-sufficient to a large degree when they arrived in the New World, and so they remained. Cut off from communication with the mother country for long periods of time, they had to rely upon their own resources. If they needed a thing they usually had to make it with their own hands or do without. These homemade objects—including cloth, pottery, tools, woodenware, furniture, brick and tiles, and many household accessories—were well-made and extremely practical. Many items made in the home were not entirely lacking in beauty.
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