Basin

This blue and white transfer-printed earthenware basin made by an unknown Staffordshire firm features a view of an imaginary American naval monument. Three rows of oval medals decorating the upper portion of the monument are inscribed with the surnames of the following naval officers of the War of 1812 listed in the order they appear from top to bottom: Johnston Blakeley (1781–1814), David Porter (1780–1843), Thomas MacDonough (1783–1825), Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819), James Lawrence (1781–1813), Charles Stewart (1778–1869), William Bainbridge (1774–1833), Stephen Decatur (1779–1820), Thomas ap Catesby Jones (1790–1858) and Isaac Hull (1773–1843). The base of the monument is inscribed with the surnames of the following heroes of the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812: George Washington (1732–1799), John Manley (1734–1793), Thomas Truxtun (1755–1822), Edward Preble (1761–1807), George Little (1754–1809) and Jacob Jones (1768–1850). The composition was based on a drawing by Boston artist John Ritto Penniman (1783–1830) reproduced as an engraving by Boston engraver William B. Annin (active 1813–1839) and published as "The Naval Monument" by Boston engraver-publisher Abel Bowen (1790–1850) in 1816. Other views after Penniman compositions appear on a teapot, 21.21.1, by John Rogers & Son (ca. 1815–1842) and a plate, 10.57.11, by Joseph Stubbs (ca. 1825–1836). Refer to the Dictionary for a definition of the term “transfer printing."