Exploring American Histories: Printed Page 45

Document 2.3

Simon van de Passe | Engraving of Pocahontas, 1616

Simon van de Passe created this portrait of Pocahontas during her visit to England in 1616. The engraving was commissioned by the Virginia Company as a way to market settlement in Jamestown. It was the only depiction of Pocahontas drawn from life because she died in London the following year. This engraving was copied, though not always accurately, many times during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

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image

  • Question

    While most portraits of English women from this period show the women looking down or to the side, Pocahontas looks directly at the viewer. Why might Simon van de Passe have portrayed Pocahontas in this way?

  • Question

    What does the elaborate clothing suggest about the parallels Simon van de Passe intends to draw between Indian royalty and English royalty?

  • Question

    What possible messages did the Virginia Company hope to promote with this image and its caption?

Put It in Context

Question

This image suggests both the possibility for establishing a long-term alliance between the Powhatan Indians and the English and the Virginia Company’s desire to promote further English settlement in the Chesapeake. What is the relationship between the two messages offered by Pocahontas’s portrait?