Colonial Folk Art Portraits

Jamestown’s Big Bang

[05.07 issue]

by Jody Argo Schroath

By the time 2007 takes its own place in the past, there will be perhaps two or three people in the Chesapeake area who have not been touched by a Jamestown 400th-anniversary event—they’ll be the ones wearing Pampers. And even then. . . .

There are so many special events marking the quadricentennial of the landing at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, that they spilled over backward into last year. The replica ship Godspeed, for example, made a tour of the East Coast before returning to Virginia to prepare for this year’s first landing re-enactment on April 26. Jamestown Live! allowed a million students across the country to watch an hour-long webcast on Jamestown’s legacy that featured questions from students to a panel that included Chickahominy Chief Stephen Adkins, Jamestown’s chief archaeologist William Kelso and former astronaut Dr. Kathryn Thornton. The Virginia tribes held a conference last October on 400 Years of Survival. And last month, radio host Tavis Smiley hosted a 2007 State of the Black Union event on the Black Imprint on America. Smiley asked a panel of 36 notable African-Americans to discuss the role that Blacks have played in the development of America, from the arrival of the first slaves at Jamestown in 1619 to the present.

But don’t worry, there are plenty of special activities still on the 2007 event horizon, including the biggest and brashest one of them all. That would be America’s Anniversary Weekend, May 11 to 13, at Jamestown, a mega-celebration that will feature three days of special events and all manner of famous folks—James Earl Jones, Ricky Skaggs, Chaka Khan, Sandra Day O’Connor and, of course, the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra (they grow their own instruments). To help you make sense of all the Jamestown 400 hoopla—which will include a visit May 3 and 4 by Queen Elizabeth II—we’ve ruthlessly marshaled these activities into several neat groups— Jamestown events, all-around-the-Bay-events and (our readers’ favorite) events with boats. Finally, you’ll find two related stories—the first, how our understanding of what happened at Jamestown has changed over the years as we have changed; the second, information on cruising the Jamestown area.

Jamestown Events
When we talk about Jamestown, of course, we are talking about not one Jamestown, but two. For Jamestown newbies, here’s how we went from zero to two: Since Jamestown had all but disappeared as a town by the middle of the 18th century, 1907’s 300th-birthday celebration was held in Norfolk instead. But organizers of the 1957 event moved the 350th birthday party back to Jamestown—to a facility constructed for the purpose, called Jamestown Festival Park and located adjacent to the original site. Jamestown Festival Park is now named Jamestown Settlement, while the site of the 1607 landing, early forts and town is called Historic Jamestowne. Hence two Jamestowns and three sites for the 400th Anniversary Weekend (the third is Anniversary Park, across Route 31 from the settlement, and where many of the weekend’s concerts will be held).

Jamestown Settlement, under the operation of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation of the State of Virginia, includes a re-created Indian village, a reproduction Jamestown fort, 70,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibition space—where you can walk down a 17th-century English main street—and reproductions of the ships that brought the first settlers: Susan Constant, Godspeed andDiscovery. Special 400th-anniversary programming at the Settlement begins April 27 with the opening of “The World of 1607,” an ambitious cycle of four exhibits put together by 28 scholars using ma-terials borrowed from all over the world with the aim of putting the settlement of Jamestown in a global context. The idea is to make us nonscholars recognize that events do not occur in a vacuum, but rather as a part of larger forces, including political, social and artistic. Items that will be part of the exhibit include a 15th-century copy of the Magna Carta, a 1607 jade wine cup of the Emperor Jahangir of India and a 17th-century African carved-ivory saltcellar. Don’t you feel smarter already?

A lot of the other special programming at Jamestown Settlement will take place only during the Anniversary Weekend. This will include artillery demonstrations, honor guards, story- telling, pageantry and plays. There will be demonstrations by artisans and craftspeople, and more than enough to keep several thousand children as happy as clams for hours at a time. The replica ships will also be open for tours, and costumed interpreters will act as guides in all areas of the park.

The archaeological site, known as Historic Jamestowne, is a partnership between the National Park Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA). It’s on nearby Jamestown Island, connected to the mainland by the Colonial Parkway and a short bridge across Sandy Bay. In 1994, the APVA hired archaeologist William Kelso to excavate the site in hopes of finding something exciting for the 2007 anniversary. Although earlier excavations had failed to find evidence of the original James Fort, Kelso found it on his first dig—that April. The site of the fort was long believed to have been flooded two centuries ago by the James River. In fact, nearly all the fort’s original footprint is on dry land, with only one corner under water. In the years following that discovery, Kelso and his workers have uncovered more than 700,000 artifacts, including a particularly intriguing skeleton found just outside the original walls buried with a ceremonial captain’s staff. Kelso believes this may be the remains of Bartholomew Gosnold, captain of theGodspeed and one of the colony’s key leaders. [See sidebar, page 57.]

Historic Jamestowne has recently added a sleek, multi-windowed Archaearium, which uses clever display techniques to show off a selection of the artifacts within view of where they were unearthed. Also at Historic Jamestowne, visitors can visit the glassblowers house, the remains of a late-17th-century church, archaeological finds such as the outlines of Jamestown’s last statehouse (1663), an early burial ground, and statues of John Smith and Pocahantas.

Special Anniversary Weekend events at Historic Jamestowne will include commemorations of past Jamestown celebrations, a series of programs called 104 Men and Boys, lectures and the official send-off of the replica shallop that will spend the rest of the summer re-enacting Captain John Smith’s 1608 voyages of discovery on the Chesapeake [see “The Captain’s Trail,” October, November 2006]. Smith had set off from Jamestown not long after the settlers arrived to explore the Bay in search of gold and the long-sought Northwest Passage to Asia and to make contact with the Native American tribes living along its shores. During two major voyages of discovery, Smith and his crew sailed or rowed up nearly every tributary on the Bay and Smith himself created its first detailed map. The re-enactment voyage that leaves Jamestown May 12 will largely retrace Smith’s trips, making about two dozen stops at cities and towns along the way.

Musical events will play a big part in the Anniversary Weekend schedule—including a 1,607-member chorale and 400-piece orchestra, famous performers such as Bruce Hornsby, Chaka Khan and Ricky Skaggs, and award-winning musical groups from dozens of schools and independent organizations all over the country (including that all-gourd orchestra). In addition, there will be re-enactments, plays, fireworks, pageantry, demonstrations and dramatic readings . . . in short, just about everything you can imagine. No more than 30,000 people will be admitted on any one of the three days, so buying a ticket in advance is essential. For a detailed schedule of events, visitwww.jamestown2007.org. You’ll find ticket information there, too, and in the sidebar on this page.

All Over the Bay Events
While the Anniversary Weekend will produce the biggest bang for the history books, you can be sure that there will be a Jamestown 400 boomlet near you. It may be a Signature Event—the term used by Jamestown 2007 organizers for a dozen or so major events around the region, many of which adopt the anniversary’s official theme: A convergence of three cultures. Among these are the American Indian Intertribal Festival in Hampton, Va., on July 21 and 22 and the African-American Culture and Commerce Expo on August 24 and 25 in Hampton Roads. Also on the schedule is the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., June 27 to July 8, which will feature performers, storytellers and crafts from native Virginia, southeastern England and West Africa. September 16 to 19 will see the concluding Forum on the Future of Democracy in Williamsburg. (You’ll find more information on all these events at thewww.jamestown2007.org site.)

Elsewhere, a special exhibit in Richmond is especially worthy of note. “Rule Britannia! Art, Royalty and Power in the Age of Jamestown,” at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, runs from April 28 through August 12 (www.vmfa.state.va.us/rule.html). This is an exhibition of 17th-century royal portraits and maritime paintings—some of them massive—that include special loans from the collection of Queen Elizabeth II, museums such as the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and private British collections. Some of these works have rarely been seen by the public.

In Norfolk, the Virginia Living Museum will offer two special and very different programs as its contribution to the Jamestown festivities. “Survivor: Jamestown Maze,” which runs through November 25, challenges children and adults to wind their way through a maze, making decisions along the way in order to survive in this new world. Also at the Living Museum, backyard horticulturalists will delight in a new permanent garden that highlight’s Virginia’s botanical history from 1607 to the present.

Two more Norfolk events are worthy of note. Sail Virginia, June 7 to 12, will feature military parades and ceremonies, historical re-enactments, maritime and cultural activities with tall ships off Ocean View and Norfolk Naval Base, and Harborfest weekend, with plays and special exhibits. (www.sailvirginia2007.com) Norfolk will also be the location for Working Waterways and Waterfronts—A National Symposium on Water Access, May 9 to 11, at the Sheraton Marriott Norfolk. (www.wateraccess2007.com).

The Kimball Theatre in Williamsburg (www.vptheatre.com) is currently showcasing a historical play, Smith, Being the Life and Death of Cap’n John by Ivor Nel Hume. This runs April 5 to December 31.

We could go on, but the list of Jamestown-related events at locations throughout the Chesapeake would stretch into next month’s magazine, so we recommend that you checkwww.jamestown2007.org/calendar.cfm. You can search by date and area.

Events with Boats
Happily for all of us boaters on the Bay, a great many of the 400th-anniversary events will be taking place in and around the water. Here, too, it’s enough information to sink a ship, so we are only going to hit the high spots. But we’ll give you some websites where you can find out more. The water-centered events fall pretty much into two categories: re-enactment events that feature one or all of the three replica ships, Godspeed, Susan Constant and Discovery, and re-enactment events centered on the 1608 discovery voyages of Captain John Smith and his crew. To make things even more interesting, the Bay has produced not one, but three replicas of Smith’s 30-foot open boat, called a shallop, that was carried aboard ship from England and then reassembled in the New World. Each of the replica shallops has its own itinerary—though occasionally, like on this first event, they will all be together.

By way of Jamestown re-enactments, this is the Big Bang. On Thursday, April 26, all three ships and all three shallops will be at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach for a dramatic redo of the Jamestown settlers’ first landfall in America at Cape Henry. The first-landing program will start at 9 a.m. Can’t make it that early? Don’t worry, the second first-landing program will start at 3 p.m. There will be an admission charge at the park for the event.

The replica ships will leave Virginia Beach on April 28, as the Godspeed takes the lead in the Signature Event called Journey up the James. The Godspeed will stop at three other ports before arriving at Jamestown on May 11 for the start of the Anniversary Weekend. [For all the ports of call of Godspeed’s Journey up the James as well as its journey on the Bay this summer and fall, see sidebar, page 57.] Recreational boaters are invited to join the flotilla from Virginia Beach to Hampton on April 28 in what Hampton calls the Great American Dock Party. The date also coincides with the city’s International Children’s Festival. (For infor-mation on participating marinas, call 800-487-8778.)

Although all three shallops will be at Virginia Beach on April 26 for the First Landing event, the “official” shallop—the one built in Chestertown by Sultana Projects—will get its formal send-off at 10 a.m. on May 12 from Historic Jamestowne for the start of its re-enactment of Smith’s voyages of discovery. (You’ll need an Anniversary Weekend ticket to see the send-off.) The first of 20 official stops in the re-enactment voyage will be at Onancock on May 19 and 20, coinciding with that town’s combined celebration of Captain Smith and the 200th birthday of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). At all of the official stops, visitors will be invited to meet the crew and view the traveling exhibits that go along with it [see sidebar, page 56].

Special events are planned to coincide with official stops of both the shallop on its re-enactment voyage and the Godspeed as it visits ports throughout the Bay following the Anniversary Weekend, so check the schedule in the sidebar and then look for informa-tion near your home port or favorite cruising grounds.

Finally, this summer’s Captain John Smith 400 voyage will inaugurate the nation’s first all-water historic trail, the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail, which was approved by Congress in December 2006 and which is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. At three points in the Sultana shallop’s trip, NOAA will activate its first three “smart buoys” that will give information about the historic and ecological significance of the particular location, as well as live readings of weather and water conditions and of water quality. The first buoy will be located 400 yards offshore due south of the Jamestown monument and will be dedicated during Anniversary Weekend. The second will be a mile or so northwest of the Point Lookout Light near the mouth of the Potomac River. The third will be activated when the shallop approaches Baltimore and will sit about a mile east-south-east of Seven Foot Knoll light. Boaters (and everyone else) will be able to dial these buoys by calling the toll free number 877-BUOYBAY. You’ll be able to access the buoys over the internet at www.buoybay.org.

Okay, that’s it for us. Now it’s up to you. Take a look, learn more about America’s beginnings, and then get on board and go see it for yourself!

“All we ask is a fair trial” Black American prison folk art $100,000.00

Lawrence Lebduska Folk Art $100,000.00

Antique Pair of Iconic American Folk Art Carved Pine Wood Eagle Sculpture – RARE $20,000.00

Metal Art Sculpture Sculptor for Hire Travel Design fabricate install folk art ! $20,000.00

Mamie Falk Folk Art Oil Painting – Considered Minnesota’s “Grandma Moses” $19,750.00

Yuri Gorbachev ORIGINAL Landscape Oil painting Folk Art $17,500.00

Rare Postmortem 1810 Young Girl w/ Dog Portrait Pastel Painting Dated Folk Art $9,995.00

Folk Art wood statue of Grover Cleveland 1894 $9,500.00

Antique Ship Captain Folk Art Carved Coconut Chalice $8,500.00

Original Oil On Canvas Painting by Minni Hines Bayou Scene Folk Art 24×48 $8,495.75

Chinese folk art sculpture carving stone inkstone for painting and handwriting $6,890.00

Chinese handcraft folk art stone sculpture carving inkstone inkslab fly dragon $6,329.00

Banjo Boy/ Pre-Civil War Folk Art on Linen $6,000.00

LARGE Antique Americana Folk Art Painting of Boy -Civil War Col. Orlando H Moore $5,999.99

Yuri Gorbachev Original Oil Painting Russian Art Folk $5,990.00

Chinese handcraft folk art sculpture carving inkstone inkslab—Avalokitesvara $5,590.00

AMERICAN FOLK ART PUPPET THEATRE QUEENS,NY $5,000.00

Clementine Hunter Signed Framed Folk Art Painting Cotton Pickin’ c1977 20×26.25 $5,000.00

vincent van gogh sculpture outsider folk art Dale Teachout assemblage junk $5,000.00

Bessie Harvey Folk Art Found Object Museum Piece!!! $5,000.00

PAIR OF 19TH C FOLK ART PORTRAITS PAINTINGS SIGNED P MARTIN 1886 HUSBAND & WIFE $4,999.99

ANTIQUE 19th CENTURY AMERICAN FOLK ART ETCHED GLASS ALLEGHENY CTY PA GERMAN WOW $4,999.99

ANTIQUE 19th CENTURY AMERICAN FOLK ART FISH HOOK MASSIVE IRON TRADE SIGN $4,999.99

Signed OLD master GESSO FRAME OIL ON CANVAS PORTRAIT NELSON pipe Folk art $4,999.00

Clementine Hunter Folk Art Painting Signed “Picking Cotton” $4,850.00

Chinese folk art sculpture carving stone inkstone double dragon holding the sun $4,690.00

FOLK ART OIL PAINTING PORTRAIT CHILD ICONIC RED DRESS PRINCE CHARLES SPANIEL $4,500.00

FOLK ART PAINTING SULLIVAN COUNTY NEW YORK J R GEROW $4,500.00

Exceptional Folk Art Painting $4,500.00

Johnnie Swearingen! Great Folk Art!!! Peddling Melons $4,500.00

New England Folk Art Portrait on Canvas Ca.1830 $4,500.00

Clementine Hunter Signed Framed Folk Art Painting Wash Day c1977 19.25 x 23.25in $4,500.00

A Outstanding Early Trade Axe,Folk Art Hatchet, $4,500.00

Yuri Gorbachev Original Oil Painting Russian Art Folk $4,490.00

FANTASTIC FOLK ART CHEST $4,200.00

Clementine Hunter Signed Framed Folk Art Painting African Headdress c1977 25.5h $4,000.00

ANTIQUE MINIATURE PRIMITIVE FOLK ART WOOD RURAL SCENE FRAMED 12 1/4″ UNIQUE $3,885.00

*RARE TRAMP / FOLK ART Shoe Shine Box – Brass/Wood-Detailed-Ornate-Exquisite $3,800.00

Antique KNOTTY Tree Root Twig FOLK ART CHAIR Set GOODY KOONCH West Virginia $3,750.00

Original Mexican Folk Art Icons Retablo:18-19th century $3,650.00

Chinese handcraft folk art sculpture carving inkstone-an old man finshing alone $3,590.00

Folk Art Hand Carved Soldier,6ft Tall Pick Up Only $3,532.50

Unique/Exceptional Large Oval Folk Art Santa Claus Wood Carving signed Cobb 98 $3,500.00

Painting Vintage 50s Cowboy Folk Art Levis Jeans Vinicur Little Buckaroo Parade $3,500.00

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Johnnie Swearingen! Great Folk Art!!! $3,500.00

Chinese handcraft folk art sculpture carving inkstone inkslab—Lofty aspiration $3,490.00

Terrazzo Marble Micro Mosaic Latin Ethnic Musicians Mural Folk Fine Art $3,374.99

Original Mexican Folk Art Icons Retablo:18-19th century $3,250.00

FINE 19c EARLY FOLK ART PORTRAIT PAINTING $3,225.00

Corbels Pair Wood Winged Griffins Victorian Old Paint Architectural Folk Art $3,195.00

MASTERPIECE FOLK ART PORTRAIT BY SHELDON PECK, 1797-1868 $3,000.00

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mud painting signed jimmy sudduth a real folk art outsider master piece $3,000.00

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FRANK WYSO OUTSIDER FOLK ARTIST PENNSYLVANIA COAL MINERS 4 WORKS OF ART $2,999.99

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ANTIQUE 19th AMERICAN FOLK ART NATURALIST BUFFALO SETON STYLE CATLIN PAINTING $2,999.99

Chinese handcraft folk art sculpture carving inkstone inkslab man walk in forest $2,999.00

Chinese handcraft folk art sculpture carving inkstone inkslab a man watch moon $2,999.00

fine Chinese handcraft folk art stone sculpture carving inkstone inkslab scenery $2,890.00

Temperance Movement Folk Art Painting Folk Art Temperance Painting $2,850.00

Anonymous Folk Art Carving Figure with Crown in Skirt with Snake $2,799.99

ANTIQUE OIL PAINTING FOLK ART NEW ENGLAND ‘HUGES’ 1892 $2,750.00

Chinese handcraft folk art stone sculpture carving inkstone inkslab with dragon $2,690.00

FOLK ART Antique Wood Polychrome Carved Asian Figure Sculpture $2,500.00

HUGE 37″ Antique 19th American Folk Art Carved Gilt Wood Eagle Statue Americana $2,500.00

Antique Primitive Folk Art Hand Carved Wooden Dough Bowl $2,500.00

FOLK ART OIL PAINTING OF THE SS “OCEAN” STEAMSHIP $2,475.00

Ca. 1820 American Folk Art Painting Deformed Man $2,450.00

James Harold Jennings Amazing and Colorful Folk Art! $2,400.00

Doris Lee – Folk Art Painting – Signed and Titled – Original Condition $2,400.00

DC: Prison Folk Art Matchstick Ship, HUGE 5′ Length $2,379.00

Amazing ORIGINAL NAUTICAL AMERICAN FOLK ART PAINTING $2,285.00

Early 20th Century Folk Art Sheep Painting/ Inside Barn $2,250.00

FOLK ART COLLAGE/Presidential Stamp Collage $2,250.00

Folk Art Handmade Ceramic Sculpture Plaque Dentist Pulling Tooth Dicker Vintage $2,200.00

ANTIQUE Americana TRADE SIGN IMMIGRATION FOLK ART NYC ICE CREAM PUSH CART $2,200.00

Ohio Pioneer Abraham Betz 1818 HANDWRITTEN LESSON BOOK with FOLK ART $2,150.00

HAITIAN ART: Vibrant PAINTING, SIGNED by Renowned Folk Artist TOUSSAINT AUGUSTE $2,150.00

Philippines National Artist Abdul Imao Brass Sculpture w/ Base Mindanao Folk Art $2,100.00

Ellen Eilers Calico Country Folk Art Woodcut Ornamental Trees Rare Early Work $2,000.00

ANTIQUE 19th CENTURY AMERICAN FOLK ART FRUIT STILL LIFE WATERMELON OIL PAINTING $1,999.99

ANTIQUE AMERICAN FOLK ART WOOD BALEEN CARVED SPERM WHALE GROTESQUE AMERICANA WOW $1,999.99

ANTIQUE AMERICAN FOLK ART SHIP LIGHTHOUSE LARGE OIL PAINTING GERNAND VERMIER $1,999.99

Vtg Rutherford Tubby Brown Xmas 25″Folk Art Santa Claus $1,999.99

AMERICAN FOLK ART GAMEBOARD TABLE WITH SWASTIKAS $1,999.00

Chinese handcraft folk art sculpture carving inkstone peasant work on his land $1,999.00

LAURA SIQUEIROS “POSEIDONS ADVENTURE” FOLK ART PAINTING $1,999.00

Old Folk Art Cinderella pre Disney & Kincade Beautiful $1,995.00

Clyde Connell 1943 Folk Art hooked rug signed LISTED $1,900.00

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Chinese folk art sculpture carving stone inkstone for painting and handwriting $1,890.00

Polly M. PICNIC, original acrylic painting, landscape Southern folk art $1,856.00

Polly M. “Homestead” acrylic painting southern folk art $1,856.00

WELSH AMERICAN SIGNED FOLK ART PAINTING JFK PT 109 $1,850.00

ORIGINAL TEXAS ARTIST FERGUSON OIL PAINTING FOLK ART $1,822.50

C Peterson ORIGINAL modern FOLKART sculpture SIGN ART painted OUT of WORK tools $1,817.00

American Folk Art Painting of Little Girl Circa 1825 $1,800.00

Emma Schrock Folk Art 16″ by 12″ $1,795.00