James Oglethorpe Presenting the

Yamacraw Indians to the Georgia Trustees

In June 1734, James Oglethorpe arrived in England escorting a delegation of Georgia Indians, including Yamacraw chief Tomochichi. On July 3, the Indians appeared at the Georgia Office in London for a special meeting with the Trustees' Common Council -- a meeting that artist William Verelst recaptured in oil. The painting took at least two -- and perhaps as many as five --years to complete, during which time Verelst apparently painted each character from life at separate sittings.

The painting probably hung in the George Office as late as 1752, the year the Trustees returned their charter to the Crown. About that time, the remaining Trustees gave the painting to Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, the fourth Earl of Shaftesbury. Cooper had been noted for his hard work on behalf of the colony of Georgia. Thereafter, the painting remained with Cooper's collection and succeeding earls of Shaftesbury in Dorset until the painting was purchased in 1956 by the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware, where it is found today. (Photo shown with permission of Winterthur Museum)

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