Theodore De Brry Symbolism

Introduction Metal engravings were common in the sixteenth century, in all probability because in those days, they were the easiest means of rendering multiple copies of an illustration. These engravings were made by using a sharp tool to engrave an image onto a thin metal sheet. The sheet was then smeared with ink and the engravings traced on the sheet to a paper. Creating copies for publication was potentially Theodore De Bry’s idea in engraving John White’s watercolors, which depicted the Native Indian life, in the sixteenth century. However, De Bry was not true to White’s depiction of the Native Indians in creating these engravings. The most fundamental reason for this being, the engraved imprints were to be published in a book for a European

While White showed the Native Indian facial features as they were, that is, short foreheads, straight hair, and strong and short arms and legs. However, De Bry showed the Algonquians with broad foreheads, curly hair, and European features. He also purposely attempted to hide the tattooed faces and the several cultural habits of these people. In addition, even though De Bry engraved images, he seems to have purposely worked toward making the Native Indians in these images look white. For instance, consider the White’s painting Indian Woman and Young Girl and De Bry’s copy of the same (Virtual JamesTown). Clearly, both the woman and the girl have been modified by De Bry to look European. De Bry has depicted them with sharp European features and considerably lighter skin tones. In addition, the tattoos on the Indian woman’s face and neck are missing in De Bry’s image. There is also possibly an attempt to hide the girl’s nudity by hiding the fact that the wrapping around her body is potentially covering only the front part of the bottom part of her body. Furthermore, De Bry shows the girl to be playing with Western toys, that is, a rattle and a doll. The woman’s headband is also missing in De Bry’s copy, because women in Europe never wore such headbands around their heads, and such an headband would have been considered strange, perhaps stranger the nudity that

In fact, if the painting Cooking in a Pot and its engraving are considered, it is clear that De Bry focused on not disturbing the European sensibilities by showing objects in the Native Indian life, such that they were closer to the European life, albeit inferior. While White shows a pot cooking in the fire, De Bry shows a man and a woman tending to the pot, to add drama perhaps. However, the most interesting difference is in the fact that corncobs are seen simmering in a broth with probably some meat and fruits to illustrate the underdeveloped culinary sense in the Indians. In other words, they simply mixed every edible thing into a broth for their meals. It is doubtful that if in reality, Native Indians even used corncobs as the Europeans did. In addition, the intense smoke in De Bry’s image can suggest inefficiency. It is also notable that the pot used for cooking in White’s image is somewhat conical and well balanced on the built fire. However, the pot in De Bry’s image is round, like a European pot, and arranged over the fire in a European style. Clearly, De Bry worked very hard to show the Native Indians such that they could be accepted by the European sensibilities. He wanted the Europeans buying his publication to be comfortable, such that their worldview adjusted to European looks and culture are not disturbed, even