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.

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.

From Orbis Sensualium Pictus by Johann Comenius (London, 1685).