Pocahontas 1616
Engraving | 17.2 x 11.8 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 680619
Simon van de Passe (c. 1595-1647)
Pocahontas 1616
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An engraving of Pocahontas (Matoaka, c.1595–1617), indigenous American Powhatan Indian from Virginia. A half-length portrait, in tall hat with feather, high lace collar, brocade gown, holding a fan in her right hand. Within oval frame and inscription below. In 1614 she married the colonist John Rolfe (1586–1622), taking the name Rebecca, and returned with him to England where she died. This print is lettered around the portrait: "MATOAKA ALS REBECCA FILIA POTENTISS: PRINC: POWHATANI IMP: VIRGINIÆ."; beneath the portrait: "Ætatis suæ 21. A.o / 1616."; along the bottom: "Matoaks als Rebecka daughter to the mighty Prince … / wife to the wor.ll M:r Joh: Rolff. // Si: Pass: sculp: / Compton Holland excud:".
The print formed part of an album of portrait prints assembled by Cassiano and his younger brother Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo in Rome. Described in an early nineteenth-century inventory of prints in George III's library as Heads of English illustrious Personages, the album was dismantled later in the nineteenth century and incorporated into the sequences of British portrait prints in the collection.
For more information see Mark McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. I: Ceremonies, Costumes, Portraits and Genre, 3 vols, Royal Collection Trust 2017, part of The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo: A Catalogue Raisonné, cat. no. 1562.
Provenance
From the collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-22 October 1657); inherited by his brother, Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo (1606-1689); sold by Carlo Antonio's grandson to Clement XI, 1703; acquired by Cardinal Alessandro Albani by 1714, from whom purchased by George III in 1762
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Engraving
Measurements
17.2 x 11.8 cm (sheet of paper)
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