Pe-o-ka

Pe-o-ka

The Sedgeford Portrait

This portrait which hangs in the Kings Lynn town hall (in Norfolk England), has long been identified as a portrait of Pocahontas and her son Thomas Rolfe. 

The Portrait of the Indian Wife of John Rolfe,

by an unknown Artist, is  believed by competent Judges to a have been Painted from Life.
(U. S. History Scene) 

This 1940s postcard (available on E-bay) identifies the sitters as Pocahontas and Thomas Rolfe and covers some of the provenance of the painting:

 

Sedgeford Hall Portrait of Pocahontas and her son, Thomas Rolfe. This portrait (artist unknown) was formerly at Heacham Hall, seat of the Rolfe Family in England. The portrait was moved to Sedgeford Hall, Dower House of the Rolfes, after Heacham Hall was sold. It is now on exhibit in King's Lynn Museum, King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. Note the Ear-rings, now in possession of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities at Jamestown, Virginia. 

The portrait at Kings Lynn has a plaque proclaiming it a portrait of Pocahontas:

PRINCESS POCAHONTAS

Dau. of PRINCE POWHATTAN & 2nd WIFE of

JOHN ROLFE of HEACHAM (1585-1630)

b. 1595 m.1614 d. AT GRAVESEND 1617

(See Wikipedia)

As the postcard above indicates, one bit of evidence cited to show that the Sedgeford portrait is of Pocahontas are the earrings she is shown wearing.  The earrings in the portrait resemble the earrings passed down in the Rolfe family and acquired by Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in 1941. Earrings resembling these appear in several Pocahontas portraits including the Simon van de Passe engraving and the Booten Hall portrait.

But... recent scholarship considers the Sedgeford portrait to be a portrait of one of Seminole Chief Osceola's two wives, Pe-o-ka, and their son painted in 1838 while Osceola was captive in Fort Moultrie.

In the course of research for an historical novel,  Bill Ryan, found a January 29, 1848 article in The Illustrated London News claiming that the Sedgeford portrait depicts “The Wife and Child of Osceola.” This  engraving of the painting, signed by G. P. Nichols accompanied the article. 

The Wife and Child of Osceola, The Last of the Seminole Indian Chiefs

engraved by G.P. Nichols

A couple of years later in 1850, an article appeared in Holden's Dollar Magazine with another similarly labeled engraving of the Sedgeford Portrait, this one by an engraver named Richardson:

The Wife and Child of Osceola

engraved by Richardson

The Palm Coast Observer, on March 31, 2011, tells the story of  Bill Ryan's discovery and remarks that now “...we have something arguably of greater historical importance and interest: A painting of real people, Pe-o-ka, one of Osceola's two wives, and their son, most probably drawn from life.”

 

A 2013 article in The Museum of the American Indian Magazine supports the identification of the Sedgeford Portrait with Pe-o-ka. The author, Valery Navab, notes that “Historians possess almost no information on Pe-o-ka, and this portrait is the only known image of her. Her story as a widow and a mother is unknown. Her husband, Osceola, also known as Asi-yahola, was an influential leader and war chief of the Seminole in Florida.”

However a 2013 blog-post by “Seminolewar” urges some skepticism of the new identification. 

The provenance of the painting is sketchy at best. We do not know who painted it or when. Art experts claim that it is in the style of the American school from the early 1800s, and that the painting might have been acquired in the U.S. and brought to England. Unfortunately there is still no way to verify this information; who painted it, when, where, or any information on the origin and where the painting came from.