George Thorpe's Inventory of 1624: Virginia's Earliest Known Appraisal

Photo from Chipstone.org Apothecary jar, Aldgate, London or Netherlands, 1590–1610. Tin-glazed earthenware. H. 7 1/4". (Courtesy, Preservation Virginia; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Jars like this were produced in the Netherlands and were among the first tin-glazed earthenwares produced in England. The form developed in the Middle East as a container for medicinal substances, which also included spices and herbs that we may consider homeopathic remedies today. Apothecary jars are among the most common ceramic forms found on early-seventeenth-century archaeological sites in Virginia. This example was excavated from the James Fort in Jamestown, Virginia, 1607–1610. photo essay by Beverly Straube

George Thorpe was an investor in the Virginia Company of London and a member of the governor's Council. He is credited with the distillation of the first batch of whiskey made from corn. This is the ancestor of all corn-made moonshine and Bourbon Whiskey

Read Full Article by Martha W. McCartney at Chipstone.org