Apothecary jar, Aldgate or Low Countries, 1607–1610. Delftware. H. 7 1/4". (Courtesy, Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Decorated with a stylized peacock feather motif. The jar was excavated by Jamestown Rediscovery,™ a project of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) at the site of James Fort (1607), the earliest permanent English settlement in the New World.
Albarello, Deruta, Italy, first quarter sixteenth century. Majolica. H. 12 1/2". (Courtesy, Germanischen Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg.)
Peacock feathers have provided decorative inspiration for centuries. The oldest known ornamental bird, the peacock figures largely in many cultures as a symbol of paradise or immortality. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)