Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation Collaborative Exhibition on Display Through July 12 at Jamestown Settlement

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., June 17, 2026 — The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has awarded the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation with a Gold Award of Excellence for the “Following the Dragon: Chinese Ming Porcelain in Early Jamestown” special exhibition currently on display at Jamestown Settlement.

The AASLH Leadership in History Awards are the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.

Presented by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation in partnership with the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, “Following the Dragon: Chinese Ming Porcelain in Early Jamestown” is on display at Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia history and culture, through July 12, 2026.

The joint exhibition invites visitors to take a journey of discovery from palaces to palisades to learn how Chinese Ming porcelain uncovered archaeologically at James Fort reveals unexpected cultural connections that link colonial Virginia with imperial China, spanning continents and empires.

The groundbreaking exhibition, which debuted on November 15, 2025, is regarded by scholars and collectors, notably Rob Hunter, editor of Ceramics in America, as “one of the most significant 21st-century exhibitions of ceramics from the early colonial period.”

Featuring Chinese porcelain uncovered during excavations of the 1607-1625 James Fort at Historic Jamestowne, the exhibition examines who may have owned these evocative pieces, how they may have been acquired, and offers fresh insights into the social life of the early 17th-century Virginia elite.

More than 100 Chinese Ming porcelain vessels have been discovered during archaeological excavations of the 1607-1625 fort at Historic Jamestowne. For this exhibition, a total of 31 vessels recovered during Jamestown Rediscovery excavations are paired with intact parallels from English, Dutch and American museums, as well as private collections from across the globe.

Among the notable objects, on loan for the first time from the Royal Collection and usually displayed at Buckingham Palace is a Ming bottle with gilt-bronze mounts that features a fenghuang, a mythical bird representing the Chinese empress and symbolizing joy, peace and sincerity. One of only three examples known to exist, the Ming bottle is displayed near archaeological fragments of a bottle uncovered at Historic Jamestowne.

Unique Partnership Between Two Prominent Historical Institutions

The joint exhibition was developed in collaboration between Jamestown Settlement Senior Curator Beverly “Bly” Straube, Ph.D., FSA, and Jamestown Rediscovery Senior Curator Merry Outlaw, and was inspired by the remarkable discoveries of Chinese Ming porcelain from the archaeological contexts of James Fort at Historic Jamestowne. Outlaw’s illustrated book – “Following the Dragon: Late Ming Porcelain from James Fort, Jamestown, Virginia”– traces how fragments of porcelain unearthed at Jamestown connect the Virginia colony to the vast networks of global trade in the early 1600s. The book accompanies the exhibition and is available with a selection of museum shop merchandise at both Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne.

"Following the Dragon" special exhibition is supported in part by James City County, James D. and Pamela J. Penny, Wilma and Marc Sharp, Ms. Lydia Kay Wilkinson, Mark A. and Iris Coblitz, Linda T. Baker, Carolyn Abbitt, Bruce H. and Eleanor Knowles, Larkin and Danny Schmidt, Stephen and Jean Louie, and Jerry E. Dalton.

About the AASLH Awards Program

This year, AASLH confers 42 national awards honoring people, projects, exhibits, and publications. The winners represent the best in the field and provide leadership for the future of state and local history. The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards not only honor significant achievement in the field of state and local history but also bring public recognition of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions, and programs to make contributions in this arena. For more information about the Leadership in History Awards, contact AASLH at 615-320-3203 or go to aaslh.org.

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About the American Association for State and Local History

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), a national nonprofit association, provides leadership and resources to help the history community thrive and make the past more meaningful for all people. AASLH serves the tens of thousands of history organizations, professionals, and volunteers around the country who help people of all ages develop critical thinking skills and understand how learning history helps society make progress toward justice. Through research, advocacy, and our field-leading professional development program, AASLH advances public history practice and connects history practitioners to critical issues in the field and to one another. For more information about AASLH visit aaslh.org.

About the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation at Jamestown Settlement

The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (JYF), an educational agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and a commemorative partner of the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, raises awareness and understanding of the shared legacies of American history through its two history museums, Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, and education programs. Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia history and culture, presents the shared stories of early America through innovative galleries, with artifacts, interactives and films, and immersive living-history experiences in re-created settings. Discover the convergence of cultures in America’s first permanent English colony in 1607, the Virginia Indians who have occupied Virginia’s landscape for centuries, and the circumstances of the first recorded Africans to Virginia in 1619. For more information, visit jyfmuseums.org.

About Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation at Historic Jamestowne

The Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation (JRF), under the auspices of Preservation Virginia, preserves and shares the original site of James Fort and Jamestown, established more than 400 years ago in 1607. JRF is dedicated to uncovering, preserving, and sharing Jamestown’s diverse history, and highlighting its major contribution to the foundations of modern American society. For over three decades, Jamestown Rediscovery has brought to vivid life the stories of James Fort through ongoing archaeological excavations, living-history programs, engaging exhibits, and more. JRF is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit and jointly administers Historic Jamestowne alongside the National Park Service. For more information, visit historicjamestowne.org.

Media Contacts

Aja Bain, American Association for State and Local History
Director of Professional Development and Publications
615-320-3203, abain@aaslh.org

Tracy Perkins, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation at Jamestown Settlement
tracy.perkins@jyf.virginia.gov, 757-253-4114

Angel Johnston, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation at Historic Jamestowne
ajohnston@preservationvirginia.org, 757-229-4997 ext. 124