Plate

This brown and white transfer-printed earthenware plate made by the Staffordshire firm of G. L. Ashworth & Bros. Ltd. features a view of sailing ships copied with slight changes from the "American Marine” series first introduced by the firm's predecessor, Francis Morley & Co. (ca. 1845–1859). Ashworth printed its version of the series in monochrome brown and blue print on a variety of table forms. The American Wing's collection also contains a green printed platter, 14.102.79, from the Morley & Co. "American Marine" series. Although the central views differ, the borders of the Ashworth plate and Morley platter are similar. Both feature medallions of sailboats and steamboats representing the types of water transportation available to nineteenth-century travelers as waterways quickly became the site of nautical innovation and expanding commercial trade. Steamboats were a particularly common theme on transfer-printed wares and appear again, for example, on a plate, 14.102.244, by James & Ralph Clews (ca. 1815–1834) and on two pieces, 14.102.102 and 16.83.9, by Enoch Wood & Sons (1818–1846). Staffordshire potters also recorded the development of many other significant modes of early American travel, including ferry boats (see, e.g., 10.57.14), horse-drawn barges (see e.g., 14.102.247), horse-drawn chaises or sedan chairs (see, e.g., 14.102.240), stagecoaches (see, e.g., 10.57.11), steam locomotives (see, e.g., 14.102.115) and the Erie Canal (see, e.g., 14.102.82). Refer to the Dictionary for a definition of the term "transfer printing" and for information about the above-mentioned firms.