Plate

This blue and white transfer-printed earthenware plate made by an unidentified Staffordshire firm features a view of the countryside along the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It belongs to a series of eighteen North and South American views of cities and towns with floral borders produced for export to the United States. Pieces in the series are typically marked on the back with the name of the individual view printed within a scrolled cartouche. Some are also marked with the names of china merchants from American cities, including Louisville, Kentucky, New Orleans, Louisiana, Cincinnati, Ohio and Wheeling, West Virginia. Both the series border and printed mark bear a striking resemblance to those used by Henshall, Williamson & Co. (ca. 1802–1828) for its "Fruit and Flower Border Series." See, for example, 16.83.7. However the present series includes views based on John Howard Hinton's "The History and Topography of the United States of North America" (London 1830 and 1832) published two years after Henshall is thought to have ceased its operations. The American Wing’s collection contains additional pieces from the series. Each typifies early nineteenth-century taste for views that romanticized the growth of cities, towns and villages by emphasizing the surrounding landscape. The view of Philadelphia was based on a presently unidentified print source. Philadelphia views were especially popular for transfer-printed wares, since Philadelphia was one of America’s oldest and most prosperous cities and also its capitol from 1790 to 1800. Famous Philadelphia sights are depicted on other pieces in the collection, including plates, 14.102.157 and 14.102.301, by Job & John Jackson (1831–1835), a platter, 14.102.138, by John & William Ridgway (ca. 1814–1830), a dish, 14.102.220, by William Ridgway, Son & Co. (ca. 1836–1848), several pieces, 10.57.14, 14.102.139 and 14.102.172, by Joseph Stubbs (ca. 1822–1836) and a plate, 14.102.290, by Enoch Wood & Sons (1818–1846). Refer to the Dictionary for a definition of the term "transfer printing" and for information about the above-mentioned firms.